Scottish CND statement in response to a BBC interview with SNP Defence spokesperson Stewart McDonald MP, in which he said that an independent Scotland could temporarily host the nuclear weapons of other states.
Like all SNP Parliamentarians Mr. McDonald has signed the ICAN Parliamentary in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons but it seems that he is not familiar with its terms, in particular the following prohibitions:
Article 1 (e) Assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty;
Article 1 (g) Allow any stationing, installation or deployment of any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or at any place under its jurisdiction or control
His stance is in direct contradiction of his formal backing of the TPNW and with the many statements of his party leader stating just how vital the Treaty will be for Scotland’s aspiration to be utterly free of nuclear weapons, such as in her speech to the SNP Conference in 2017:
“We will never accept that a limit should be placed on the contribution Scotland can make to building a better world. Strong voices for peace and justice are needed now more than ever. Last week, ICAN, the global campaign against nuclear weapons won the Nobel Peace Prize. Our party stands proudly as part of the global movement for peace. So let us restate this today. No ifs, no buts from the SNP. We say NO to weapons of mass destruction. We say NO to nuclear weapons on the River Clyde, or anywhere else.”
Mr. McDonald’s words raise an inevitable question. Is he trying to force a change in SNP policy? We now expect an unequivocal re-assurance from the party leadership that its zero tolerance of nuclear weapons is unchanged and that accession to the TPNW remains a top priority. Otherwise we are looking at a very slippery slope in which the anti-nuclear stance is watered down to a point that is meaningless and could mean the acceptance of a Guantanamo-type role for the Clyde bases. This would be a disastrous betrayal of the hopes so many Scots have for a new Scotland to be rid of these hideous weapons of mass slaughter.