I was not surprised but disappointed to learn this weekend that Scottish Labour has vowed to oppose Trident. Faslane is one of the biggest employers in West Dunbartonshire with more than a quarter of full time jobs in the area being at Faslane and it is the largest single-site employer in Scotland.
Labour has joined the ranks of the SNP in opposing renewal of the UKs last front line defence. I have made it clear many times before that none of us like to live in a nuclear world, but the reality is that we do. Britain has had an important role to play in the stability of the Western world since WW2.
Aside from the theoretical and ideological discussions we can have around nuclear weaponry, this is no new argument there are opposing views on this which have been debated for decades, I am particularly interested in the Scottish economy. I am yet to hear firm commitments from either the SNP or Labour on how each and every individual job lost through non-renewal of Trident will be replaced or how those families and communities will be helped. What is their message those families whose livelihoods they will take away?
To me it seems like Scottish Labour are “chasing” the voters they lost in to the SNP in the General Election in May by trying to copy their policy as they out-left each other. Indeed Kezia Dugdale has said that she will give her MSPs the freedom to campaign for Scottish Independence if they so wish. Further proof of Scottish Labour’s lack of clarity and direction on the issue of the breakup of the UK.
Thank goodness there is a Scottish Conservative and Unionist party in Scotland to fight for the preservation of the UK, the defence of our respective nations, to protect local West of Scotland jobs and stick to our guns on policy. We are indeed the only true opposition to the SNP in Scotland now and Labour’s lurch on Trident is the final nail in their Scottish coffin. I would ask their local Holyrood candidate to comment, but we are yet to hear from Labour in Cunninghame North.