Scotland and Nuclear Weapons

Janet Fenton: SNP

will haemorrhage votes if it turns to nuclear. In a car crash of an interview
with the BBC, Stewart McDonald (SNP MP for Glasgow South) appears to have
allowed the dog to have eaten his homework. His weird remarks are incompatible
with the commitment he made when he signed the Parliamentarian Pledge for the
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It appears that Stewart
McDonald’s dog has also eaten his copy of his own party’s manifesto as well as
his copy of the TPNW, with its absolute prohibition in: “Article 1 (e) Assist,
encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to
a State Party under this Treaty; and 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. The
perfect storm is Scottish independence and accession to the TPNW, understood by
Nicola Sturgeon when she endorsed The Scottish Women’s Covenant in support of
the treaty with this message. “While the Scottish Government is unable to
become a party to the treaty, as First Minister I strongly support the
principles of the treaty and the work of the Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom. An independent Scotland would be a keen signatory and I hope
the day we can do that is not far off,” she said. The SNP’s strong anti-nuclear
message is at the heart of its continued support over many years. And while
many hoped that the referendum would give us the power for disarmament, in 2014
the TPNW was still a dream, leaving the fear of the UK strong arming Scotland
into nuclear compliance. SNP membership and support could haemorrhage like snow
off a dyke if the electorate were to suspect that any caucus sought to abandon
the policy at this juncture, with the possibility of a nuclear-free independent
Scotland in sight. Maybe Stewart McDonald’s dog has not been in at any Nato
briefings as well, if he does not understand that Nato is a military alliance
with, for the moment, a nuclear armed policy. Some of the Nato states are,
unlike the UK’s Government, attending the TPNW First Meeting of States Parties
in Vienna next month.