Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 20 March 2013
20 Mar 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Trident
No, thank you; I was dealing with the member’s colleague.
In the assertions and emotion that have come from the SNP on the issue of nuclear weapons down the years there has been a distinct lack of facts, so I would like to introduce some. Why do we have nuclear weapons in this country? In what circumstances could they be deployed? What work is going on to reduce nuclear capability in the UK and across the wider world?
SNP members are correct that in terms of pure destructive power, nuclear weapons pose a uniquely terrible threat. It is precisely because of that threat that they have a capability to deter acts of aggression that is on a different scale to any other form of deterrence.
A number of enduring principles underpin the UK's approach to nuclear deterrence. The first is the focus on preventing nuclear attack. The UK’s nuclear weapons are designed not for military use during conflict, but instead to deter and prevent nuclear blackmail and acts of aggression against our vital interests that cannot be countered by other means. The notice to fire the Trident D5 missiles has been increased to several days since the cold war ended, and the missiles are not targeted at any country.
Secondly, the UK will retain only the minimum amount of destructive power required to achieve its deterrence objectives. Since 1997, the UK Government has reduced the upper limit on operationally available nuclear warheads by nearly half. That reduction is continuing, with a commitment to reduce the number still further into the mid-2020s.
In the assertions and emotion that have come from the SNP on the issue of nuclear weapons down the years there has been a distinct lack of facts, so I would like to introduce some. Why do we have nuclear weapons in this country? In what circumstances could they be deployed? What work is going on to reduce nuclear capability in the UK and across the wider world?
SNP members are correct that in terms of pure destructive power, nuclear weapons pose a uniquely terrible threat. It is precisely because of that threat that they have a capability to deter acts of aggression that is on a different scale to any other form of deterrence.
A number of enduring principles underpin the UK's approach to nuclear deterrence. The first is the focus on preventing nuclear attack. The UK’s nuclear weapons are designed not for military use during conflict, but instead to deter and prevent nuclear blackmail and acts of aggression against our vital interests that cannot be countered by other means. The notice to fire the Trident D5 missiles has been increased to several days since the cold war ended, and the missiles are not targeted at any country.
Secondly, the UK will retain only the minimum amount of destructive power required to achieve its deterrence objectives. Since 1997, the UK Government has reduced the upper limit on operationally available nuclear warheads by nearly half. That reduction is continuing, with a commitment to reduce the number still further into the mid-2020s.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-05988, in the name of Keith Brown, on Trident. 14:40
The Minister for Transport and Veterans (Keith Brown)
SNP
In December 1962, the Polaris sales agreement between the United States and United Kingdom Governments was announced. As a result of that agreement, which wa...
Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
LD
Will the minister give way?
Keith Brown
SNP
If the member will let me get started, I am sure that I will take his intervention later.Some will say that we should not be holding this debate and that suc...
Willie Rennie
LD
Will the minister give way now?
Keith Brown
SNP
Yes.
Willie Rennie
LD
I respect the position of the minister and the Government on unilateral nuclear disarmament. However, is he able to tell me whether, if Scotland goes indepen...
Keith Brown
SNP
For the benefit of Mr Rennie’s education, I point out that the Scottish National Party’s whole raison d’être is self-determination. It is for individual coun...
Ruth Davidson (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
Does the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth speak for the Scottish Government? He suggests in his Swinneyleaks document:“I have...
Keith Brown
SNP
The point that the finance secretary has made is that around £2 billion is currently spent on defence in Scotland and we pay around £3.3 billion, so we could...
Annabel Goldie (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Having listened to the minister’s impassioned delivery, I ask him to explain whether he understands what is meant by a deterrent. It is difficult to prove a ...
Keith Brown
SNP
I understand that Annabel Goldie will not take my word for it that nuclear weapons provide no deterrent whatever, but I have just quoted a number of senior m...
Bruce Crawford (Stirling) (SNP)
SNP
What deterrent were nuclear weapons to General Galtieri when he decided to invade the Falkland Islands?
Keith Brown
SNP
None whatever. General Sir Mike Jackson has recently said that there is no possibility that the UK would be able to retake the Falkland Islands. It no longer...
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I am no great fan of Trident, but will the minister explain what evidence he has that the majority of the Scottish population is against nuclear weapons?
Keith Brown
SNP
I could happily spend the rest of the speech giving the member evidence on that, but most recently a poll carried out last week showed that 80 per cent of pe...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister give way?
Keith Brown
SNP
I cannot. I have taken a number of interventions and I would like to try and finish in the short time that is left. Nuclear weapon states should also provide...
Ruth Davidson (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
The question is why anyone would rise to advocate the retention or replacement of a nuclear weapons system or platform. The SNP would have you believe that o...
The Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages (Dr Alasdair Allan)
SNP
The member talks about global responsibility. Does she feel that the 180 or so countries in the world that do not posses nuclear weapons are acting irrespons...
Ruth Davidson
Con
I think that the UK is the only recognised nuclear power under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that has a single platform for weapons and a single set o...
Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Ruth Davidson
Con
No, thank you; I was dealing with the member’s colleague. In the assertions and emotion that have come from the SNP on the issue of nuclear weapons down the ...
Mark McDonald
SNP
Will the member give way?
Ruth Davidson
Con
Not at this time. The third key principle is that the UK’s nuclear deterrent supports collective security through NATO for the Euro-Atlantic area. Nuclear de...
Mark McDonald
SNP
Will the member give way?
Ruth Davidson
Con
I will give way in a second.The SNP’s approach to this most serious of subjects, however, is muddled, confused, cynical and posturing. After decades of oppos...
Keith Brown
SNP
Does the member not believe that the real hypocrisy lies in saying that we are responsible enough to have nuclear weapons and other countries are not? Will s...
Ruth Davidson
Con
We want to be rid of nuclear weapons too, and that is why we are using the leverage that we have by reducing our own stockpile to work with other countries a...
Mark McDonald
SNP
Will the member give way?