The Scottish National Party WIP renewed its pledge to remove the nuclear distaste of the UK s Trident Treaty Directive if Scotland became independent. The party, led by the nation s Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, ruled out the idea that nuclear weapons would be assassinated in the UK in the hypothetical scenario of Scotland secedd from Scotland. The SNP s reaffirmation of its anti-nuclear stance came amid a report that the UK Government had hatched plans to create a British overseas territory to house Trident in the event of Scottish independence.
The article by the Financial Times, which quoted senior Whitehall sources, said that civil servants had also been looking at the possibility of moving Trident from its current location on the river Clyde to France or US. The SNP has framed the independence debate as a case of when Scotland votes to break away from the UK rather than if Westminster would need to back referendum legislation tabled by Holyrood in order for Scottish to be given a vote on their future. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has consistently expressed his opposition to Scotland holding a public referendum on independent votes. Now, a nuclear energy expert told Express.co. Westminster s power gives it economic leverage over Scotland on independence and Trident. JUST IN: John Barnes closed down by BBC host as ex-footballer demands overthrow of capitalism.
Dr Nick Ritchie, a senior lecturer at the University of York, said the SNP s options with Trident would partly rest on the asymmetries of power between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK. The SNP may have to compromise on its anti-nuclear stance because of the importance it had placed on securing its economic demands for an independent Scotland. He said these include: Continuing to use sterling, an equitable division of sovereign debt, an equitable division of pension liabilities, support for or at least not outright obstruction from London for Scotland's entry into a whole range of international institutions He added: There's an opportunity to have a negotiation in the pool. If there is a government in London the same with independent Scottish Government as the Conservatives are now committed to keeping Trident, then that is one of its main negotiation cards, I think, with a future independent Goverment.
A so-called Indyref 2 would follow Scottish's final public vote on the issue in 2014, which saw Scots reject Scottish independence from the UK. Dr Ritchie claimed that Edinburgh may also frustrate the Scottish Government's attempts to hold a referendum, giving it leverage over the Scottish Government on Trident. He added: It will come down to economics and the economic relation between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK. To a certain extent it might be a bit of biting your nose off to spite your face.