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(Scotland's) Alex Salmond softens hardline stance over Nato's nuclear weapons
Source: The Guardian
Alex Salmond softens hardline stance over Nato's nuclear weapons
Nicholas Watt and Severin Carrell
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 November 2013 21.04 GMT
An independent Scotland would allow submarines and warships armed with nuclear weapons from the US, Britain and other Nato countries to dock in its ports as part of what was dubbed as a "don't ask, don't tell" policy to guarantee membership of the North Atlantic alliance.
In a sign of the Scottish National party's determination to reassure wavering voters – in the face of a commanding lead for the pro-UK camp – the Scottish government outlined a series of concessions by offering to share its military bases with the UK and even softening its stance on the timetable for removing Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.
Buried in the detail of 670-page white paper on independence, launched in Glasgow by the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, it emerged that his government wants to qualify its staunch nuclear free policy by saying that nuclear-armed vessels from Nato countries would be free to use its ports on a confidential basis. It confirmed that an independent Scotland governed by the SNP would aim to eject Britain's Trident nuclear fleet from the Faslane base in Argyll and Bute "with a view" to achieving this by 2020. But it softened its previously hardline position by saying this was its "aim and intention", indicating that it was willing to compromise further.
The fresh approach suggests that British nuclear submarines will be allowed to join other Nato nuclear vessels operating in Scottish waters.
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Nicholas Watt and Severin Carrell
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 November 2013 21.04 GMT
An independent Scotland would allow submarines and warships armed with nuclear weapons from the US, Britain and other Nato countries to dock in its ports as part of what was dubbed as a "don't ask, don't tell" policy to guarantee membership of the North Atlantic alliance.
In a sign of the Scottish National party's determination to reassure wavering voters – in the face of a commanding lead for the pro-UK camp – the Scottish government outlined a series of concessions by offering to share its military bases with the UK and even softening its stance on the timetable for removing Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.
Buried in the detail of 670-page white paper on independence, launched in Glasgow by the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, it emerged that his government wants to qualify its staunch nuclear free policy by saying that nuclear-armed vessels from Nato countries would be free to use its ports on a confidential basis. It confirmed that an independent Scotland governed by the SNP would aim to eject Britain's Trident nuclear fleet from the Faslane base in Argyll and Bute "with a view" to achieving this by 2020. But it softened its previously hardline position by saying this was its "aim and intention", indicating that it was willing to compromise further.
The fresh approach suggests that British nuclear submarines will be allowed to join other Nato nuclear vessels operating in Scottish waters.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/26/alex-salmond-snp-stance-nato-nuclear-weapons
