Scotland's First minister Alex Salmond has rejected a suggestion to keep UK nuclear weapons in Scotland.
Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond has rejected a suggestion to keep UK nuclear weapons based at HM Naval Base Clyde in western Scotland.
In an interview with the state-run BBC, Salmond said the decision on Friday 19 October by the Scottish National Party (SNP) conference to axe British nuclear missiles from the Scottish soil was a non-negotiable issue.
The first minister stressed that all the UK’s nuclear weapons would be scrapped if Scotland gained independence, adding, "Far better it was curtains for Trident, I would say."
Meanwhile, Salmond and his party on Friday won a conference vote to join NATO, reversing an SNP policy that has lasted for 10 years.
The SNP’s situation now includes joining NATO under conditions on the nuclear weapons alliance, accepting that an independent Scotland would require the rest of the UK to remove its Trident nuclear weapons from the Scottish soil.
Salmond added that most of the Scottish voters were against Britain’s Trident missiles and nuclear weapons.
This comes after Abolition 2000, which is a network of organizations campaigning for nuclear disarmament, and the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND)supported the Scottish government’s pledge to remove British nuclear arms from Clyde if Scotland wins independence from Britain in the 2014 referendum.
BGH/SSM/HE
