Meeting of the Parliament 03 November 2015
I suspect that this debate was scheduled with other events this weekend in mind, but I am happy to open for Scottish Labour.
Labour debated many issues at our conference at the weekend, of course. We spoke about college places, restoring the 50p tax rate and addressing the unacceptable cuts to the working families tax credit. However, the Scottish Government has chosen this issue for today’s debate. Given its record on some issues, it is no surprise that it chose to debate a policy that we now seem to be in agreement on.
The renewal of Trident is an important issue. I accept that there is a range of views in the chamber, but I believe that, ultimately, there is more that unites us than divides us.
The Labour Party has always been a broad church. That is something to be proud of. A healthy political party sustains debate, and a democratic party accepts the outcomes of debates. The renewal of Trident has been actively debated in the party for a number of years, and over the years many members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament have found a home in the Labour Party and argued their cause.
The debate at the Scottish Labour conference on Sunday showed the Labour Party at its best. Kezia Dugdale’s decision to introduce a members day on which members and affiliates decided the debates that would take place, voting on the motions, was a positive move for the conference that showed a mature party that supports the discussion of a wide policy agenda. Party members delivered thoughtful, incisive and constructive speeches, and we listened respectfully to one another’s views. It was fantastic to see lots of new members addressing the conference not just on Sunday, but across the whole weekend. Healthy political parties enable discussion of their positions, allow debate and are prepared to reflect those positions.
I have always said that the debate on Trident is complex. I outlined the arguments for and against a few weeks’ back in a members’ business debate, which the cabinet secretary also spoke in. Although there are a number of amendments in this debate, I respect the views and arguments of other MSPs and their parties.
For Scottish Labour on Sunday, those who argued to oppose the renewal of Trident won the day because they presented a strong case for the renewal of Trident as the wrong choice at the wrong time. Beyond that, there was a strong fundamental argument against nuclear weapons. If used, those weapons would cause unimaginable destruction and death, and there can be no justification for deploying them. The risk to humanity that they pose and the belief that no democratic country in the modern world would use them call into question the necessity of nuclear weapons and nuclear capability.