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Anti-nuclear report welcomed
17/06/2012
Bruce Crawford, Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy, has welcomed a report on the steps needed to remove nuclear weapons from Scotland.
The report, 'Disarming Trident', was published today by the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Mr Crawford said:
"We are firmly committed to the earliest possible withdrawal of Trident from Scotland, to the pursuit of a world which is free from nuclear weapons, and to the development and diversification of HMNB Clyde as a vibrant and sustainable conventional naval base in an independent Scotland.
"The suggested timetable is a welcome indication of how quickly Trident could be removed once Scotland has the powers to decide its own defence and security policy, and we note that various international experts have highlighted a credible timetable.
"Independence is the only constitutional option which gives Scotland the powers to have Trident removed from Scottish waters. A normal country with the power to decide its own defence and security policy would never be pushed into spending billions of pounds of taxpayer’s money on unwanted nuclear weapons. Scotland must have independence to determine our own priorities.
"The majority of Scottish opinion, our churches, the Scottish Trade Union Congress and civic society, all oppose Trident – and the Scottish Parliament has voted against its replacement – yet the UK Government wants to use Scottish taxpayers’ money to pay for these weapons of mass destruction, whist the numbers of military personnel in Scotland continue to be reduced and Scotland’s regimental traditions remain under threat from the UK Government’s strategic defence review."