SNP WELCOMES GENERALS' TRIDENT INTERVENTION

SNP WELCOMES GENERALS' TRIDENT INTERVENTION

BALANCED PARLIAMENT CAN HELP SPEED THE END OF UK WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson today (Wed) welcomed the call by a group of retired senior generals for the scrapping of the proposed replacement of Trident to be on the table in any post-election Strategic Defence Review.

Writing in the Times today (Wed), Field Marshal Lord Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham, General Sir Hugh Beach and Major-General Patrick Cordingley, call for the scrapping of Trident to be at the forefront of the political agenda, saying it would be a "big strategic blunder" not to include the weapons as part of the defence review which will follow the general election.

Mr Robertson said:

"This is a hugely welcome development. The folly of spending £100 billion on a new generation of weapons of mass destruction has now been underlined by the very people who are best placed to know.

"At a time when all the London parties are determined to make savage cuts to public spending, it should be these morally indefensible weapons that are ditched - not much-needed investment in schools, hospitals and other vital front-line public services.

"The generals also make the point that spending billions on Trident will have 'long-term' consequences for the defence equipment budget for conventional forces - a point that has all the more relevance given the ongoing questions about the equipment given to UK forces serving on the front-line in Afghanistan.

"Trident, and its proposed replacement, are relics of the Cold War and are of no use at all against the kind of threats we face today. There is no justification for a new generation of these weapons being based in Scottish waters.

"A balanced parliament at Westminster, which is looking increasingly likely, offers the best chance of ensuring the future of Trident is on the table for discussion so that we can stop the pointless waste of £100 billion on new weapons of mass destruction."