Salmond slaps down America over secret Trident cables
Classified memos reveal US diplomats scoffed at SNP vow to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons
SECRETcablesSNP’s to ditch scoffingUS Trident commitmentdiplomaticat after the Internal memos independenceattackedminister from Alexby formerthe Salmond.have US been first Embassymentto the in in independenceLondon Washingtonto the referendumin State the Depart-run-up in 2014 ment’sThe dismiss cables,plan to just banthe declassifiednuclear Scottish weapons. Govern-under US released freedom exclusivelyof informationto the law Sunday and Herald, “rhetoric” label and SNP“a marquee nuclear issue”. policy An as anti-TridentParliament is motion describedin the as Scottish “largely symbolic”The revelationsand “a campaignhave prompted tactic”. an angry headed response Holyrood fromat the Salmond,time. who stood “The full Scottish square Governmentfor the removalof 2014of waters Trident as submarineslaid out in fromthe White Scottish Paper on independence,” he told the Sunday Herald. “Any US Embassy analyst doubting that intent knows or understands nothing about the history of the SNP or the independence movement in Scotland.” The independence White Paper promised to “make early agreement on the speediest safe removal of nuclear weapons a priority”. This was “with a view to the removal of Trident within the first term of the Scottish Parliament following independence”. But the plans were secretly disparaged by US diplomats. One US Embassy cable from London to Washington on June 17, 2014 recounted reports that the then deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was proposing a draft Scottish constitution including a bar on nuclear weapons. “The SNP’s anti-nuclear rhetoric has only increased during the independence campaign, including assertions that the SNP would not budge on Trident removal as part of postreferendum negotiations with the rest of the UK,” the cable said. “However, actual written materials, including the White Paper and draft independence bill, leave some room to manoeuvre, committing the government to negotiate on removal.”
he cable added: “The SNP’s proposal for a nuclear ban in a permanent constitution is a marker laid down in the campaign, but likely would be up for renegotiation in the event the referendum passes.”
An Embassy cable on August 7, 2014 reported the Scottish Parliament passing a motion calling for the removal of Trident from Scotland.
“With only six weeks until the referendum, this largely symbolic motion – regarded by many as a campaign tactic by the pro-independence camp – underscored the Scottish Government’s strong anti-nuclear stance,” it said.
“The removal of Trident remains a key part of the pro-independence campaign, with the Scottish Government calling the nuclear programme wasteful and morally wrong. When setting terms for Trident’s removal in writing, however, the Scottish Government continues to include a hedge on timing.”
Another cable on April 16, 2014 reported former UK defence chiefs saying that removing Trident from Scotland would “cast a dark shadow” over its relationship with allies. This “will put pressure on the SNP to justify its claims that Trident could be removed from an independent Scotland by 2020, an assertion questioned by several defence experts”, it commented.
In a cable on June 11, 2014 the US Embassy reported claims in the British press that the US would block an independent Scotland from joining Nato if it “followed through” on plans to remove Trident. “The removal of nuclear weapons is a marquee issue for the SNP in the independence debate,” it said.
A cable on June 6, 2014 referred to press coverage highlighting concern in the Obama administration about the impact of Scottish independence “and the loss of Trident nuclear submarines on the Clyde”. This could pose a “significant challenge” to Salmond, it reported, “due to the President’s influence on centre-left public opinion”.
Paper copies of the cables, marked “secret” and “confidential”, were released to the Sunday Herald by the US State Department, more than two years after they were first requested. One document was withheld “in the interest of national defence or foreign policy”.
Ross Greer MSP, external affairs spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, argued that if Scotland had voted Yes in 2014 this would have given the Government a clear mandate to remove Trident as quickly as possible.
“It is simply inconceivable that any government could back down on Trident renewal without causing outrage and revolt among its own backbenches, the Yes movement and the Scottish public as a whole,” he said.
“The US State Department can think wishfully that an independent Scotland would bow to their wishes but the independence Greens have always campaigned for, and the independence we believe most people want, is one where Scotland is not a base of convenience for American weapons of mass annihilation.”
According to the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the released memos showed that Washington was seriously concerned about the implications of Scottish independence for Trident.
“The US Embassy was trying to downplay the impact of independence by describing the SNP’s anti-nuclear stance as rhetoric and the Scottish Parliament’s vote against Trident as a campaign tactic,” said campaign co-ordinator John Ainslie.
“However, it would be very difficult for the SNP to suddenly reverse their policy. Since 2014, Scots have overwhelmingly voted for anti-Trident candidates in the 2015 and 2016 elections.”
The US Embassy in London stressed that the US position on Trident was well known and had not changed. “The United States remains steadfastly committed to the security and defence of our Nato partners, including the United Kingdom, and to maintaining a strong transatlantic relationship in support of our common defence,” an Embassy spokeswoman told the Sunday Herald.
“We welcome the UK’s continued commitment to security, including its two per cent GDP commitment on defence spending and Parliament’s 472-117 vote to renew Trident last month. These commitments reinforce the UK’s strong role as a Nato ally and contributor to Nato’s nuclear deterrent.”