Ruth flays SNP and Labour on Trident

RUTH Davidson today launches a blistering attack on the SNP over Trident, accusing the Nationalists of lying and using Britain’s nuclear deterrent to stoke up grievance.

MPs will decide whether or not to update and replace the current fleet of Trident submarines in Parliament tomorrow.

Writing in this newspaper, Miss Davidson turns on both Scottish Labour and the SNP, accusing them of leaving the UK defenceless in a dangerous modern world. She acknowledges the Nice attack shows the nature of the threat to our way of life comes from different sources, but warns that is not a reason to throw away the UK’s deterrent.

The vast majority of Scotland’s MPs will vote against Trident replacement. Only one of our 59 MPs – Scottish Secretary David Mundell – is expected to vote in favour.

All the other Scottish MPs – the 54 Nationalists, the two independent, former Nationalist MPs, the one Labour MP and the sole Lib Dem will all vote against.

But the Tories are expected to have more than enough support from the rest of the UK, including some Labour MPs, to win the vote.

Miss Davidson insists today the SNP does not speak for Scotland on this issue, pointing to polls that show more people in Scotland want to keep Trident than want it scrapped.

She writes: ‘So when the SNP claims that Scotland stands united in opposition to renewing Trident, it is simply not true.’

She also derides Labour for opposing Trident renewal in Scotland while supporting it in Westminster. She asks: ‘Is anyone clear any more what Labour North or South of the Border stands for?’

Meanwhile, the SNP has urged Theresa May to delay the Trident vote. SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said last night it should be postponed to make sure MPs had access to the full costs of renewal before making a choice.

The UK Government has claimed the renewal of Trident will cost £31 billion – but ministers have allocated another £10 billion as a contingency, in case costs overrun.

But opponents claim that, when the running costs of at least £2.4 million a year are factored in, the true cost could be as high as £167 billion over the next 30 years.

Mr Robertson said: ‘It would be both morally and economically indefensible for the UK Government to commit to spending hundreds of billions of pounds on weapons of mass destruction. The enormous cost of Trident appears to be spiralling out of control – before MPs can come to an informed view, they must have access to full costs across the lifetime of the programme.’