Revolting Situation

The news is buzzing today with stories of the impending revolt on the Labour backbenches at Westminster over the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system. As I have reported on my blog previously this scheme threatens to cost the taxpayer somewhere in the region of £75billion-£100billion once the decommissioning of the existing system, the commissioning of a new system and maintenance costs are factored in.

That is a lot of money to be spending on a system that has no strategic potency in facing up to the challenges before us as a society in the twenty-first century. This is also not to mention it being a lot of money to spend on weapons of mass destruction that are morally reprehensible and kill indiscriminately. This money would be much better used elsewhere, on schools, hospitals and public transport for instance.

However, what is becoming clear is that the Labour Party - even including the Trident rebels - are attempting to persuade people that this issue shouldn't influence how they vote at the Scottish Parliament election. Indeed, Katy Clark (Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran) who is threatening to rebel, was playing this very game on Newsnight this evening. They make this case because the Scottish Parliament isn't charged with the responsibilities over defence and won't be making the decision on renewal (even though these weapons will be expected to be stored in Scotland once again if they are built).

That is of course factually correct. The Scottish Parliament doesn't have control over this important area. However that is actually the very reason why this issue should be front and centre in the Scottish Parliament campaign. The fact is that with some 75% of Scots opposed to the renewal of Trident we have a national legislature that is entirely impotent to react to this situation. It is in fact just another reason for independence. Little wonder New Labour are so keen to play down the issue!