Losing Trident ‘may scupper independence’
The S cottish Government’s plan to order the removal of Trident from S cotland after i n d e p e n d e n c e m a y s c u p - p er plans to rejoin the Nato d e f e n c e a l l i a n c e , a f o r me r GCHQ chief had warned.
Sir David Omand has also questioned the abilit y of an independent Scotland to effectively establish its own security services after a Yes vote. The former spy chief, who was born and raised in Glasgow, told the Herald on Sunday that Russia would seek to interfere in a future referendum on Scottish independence.
The Scottish Government's white paper on independence at the last referendum said it would see the removal of submarine-based Trident nuclear weapons from Faslane on the Clyde during the first term of a newly elected independent Scottish Parliament.
Sir David told a Sunday newspaper this approach “makes Nato membership problematic”.
One potential approach could be a "long lease on Faslane and Coulp or t [by England from Scotland] and you swallow your non-nuclear instincts.”
He added: "I have no answers to any of these problems, all I can point out is that it’s difficult and it’s expensive and I think I and my fellow Scots deserve to have the proposition fairly set out before any talk of a further referendum. There’s a risk of falling into magical thinking as you can’t actually say how any of this would be done – you’re just kind of assuming that somehow it will be.”
Previous work by CND has indicated that Trident could be removed from the Clyde within two years. The 2013 referendum on independence states that Scotland would seek to have Trident removed within “the first term of the Scottish Parliament following independence.”
It adds: “The detailed pro -
cess and timetable for removal would be a priority for negotiation between the Scottish Government and the Westminster Government.”
Sir David warned there would “certainly be attempts to inter
fere” with a Scottish referendum campaign in future by Russian cyber attackers. "And although the British security ser vices have never infiltrated the Scottish independence movement, he added: “If there was evidence of a foreign state interfering in the referendum or trying to subvert the movement … then of course that would be a legitimate target."