LABOUR’S Jackie Baillie is among the 17 MSPs who want to renew Trident after politicians across the spectrum voted overwhelming to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons.
The shadow minister defied Scottish Labour’s new stance to scrap the missiles in a landmark session which saw leader Kezia Dugdale support a Scottish Government motion against renewal.
Campaigners welcomed the vote which saw a massive 96 MSPs including SNP, Labour, Green and independent MSPs back axing the submarine-based system.
The motion also called on the UK Government to commit to a defence diversification strategy to protect defence workers’ jobs.
Just 17 MSPs voted to oppose that position, with public services spokeswoman Baillie the only Labour member to do so. She joined 12 Conservative MSPs and four Liberal Democrats.
The Tories were Ruth Davidson, Jackson Carlaw, Alex Fergusson, Murdo Fraser, Annabel Goldie, Alex Johnstone, John Lamont, Margaret Mitchell, Nanette Milne, Mary Scanlon, John Scott and Liz Smith.
They were joined by LibDems Jim Hume, Liam McArthur, Alison McInnes and Tavish Scott.
Introducing his speech, the SNP’s Bill Kidd, who spoke in the debate immediately after Baillie, drew attention to the Labour frontbencher’s closeness to the Tories on the subject.
“I didn’t realise there would be a summing up by the Tory party before me,” he quipped.
He later questioned how Baillie could remain on Scottish
Labour’s frontbench team.
“How can Jackie Baillie possibly remain in Labour’s Shadow Cabinet after voting against her own party’s apparent position?” he asked.
“The fact that Ms Baillie’s speech backing weapons of mass destruction was wildly applauded by the Tory benches should give her serious pause for thought.”
Last week, the UK Government estimated it would cost £167 billion to replacing the ageing system, capable of killing millions of people in an instant.
Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown, who led the Government debate yesterday, said Trident renewal would cost Scotland around £13.9 bn on a population-share basis while its share of running costs are around £125 million each year.
“It is wrong for the UK Government to be contemplating building a new nuclear weapons launch system while at the same time introducing massive cuts to welfare,” he said. “Around £1bn of the £12bn welfare cut by the UK Government impacts directly on Scotland.
“It does seem to me to put the priorities of the UK Government into quite sharp focus.”
Labour’s democracy spokeswoman Claire Baker said the party’s conference vote on Sunday meant opposition to the renewal of Trident is now the party’s “clear position”.
“But a decision to cancel Trident is not without significant consequences for the workforce and the communities who rely on these jobs.
“We cannot underestimate what the cancellation would mean to the communities of Faslane and Coulport,” she said.
“We must ensure that this skilled and experienced workforce continues to make a significant contribution to our economy whether inside or outside the defence sector.’’
Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, welcomed the result of the vote. “Everything must be done to support new jobs,” she said.
“However, the first steps must be the cancellation of a weapons system which has no part in a civilised world.”
Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, also welcomed the development. “This is immensely significant,” she said.
“We’ve known for a long time that public opinion in Scotland is against Trident, but to virtually have a cross-party consensus against it is very positive.
“It’s wonderful to see people across different parties voting together to get rid of Trident.”
During the debate Baillie, whose Dumbarton constituency includes the Faslane naval base, said about 13,000 jobs could be affected.
“Faslane is the single biggest site employer in Scotland,” she said. “More than a quarter of West Dunbartonshire’s full-time workforce are employed there in good-quality well-paid jobs.”
But her figures have been questioned with one recent report suggesting the number of jobs affected is between 500 to 1000.
The Holyrood debate on the issue came just 48 hours after the Scottish Labour conference in Perth overwhelmingly voted against renewing Trident.
This put policy north of the Border at odds with the UK party’s position, which supports renewal of Trident.
Scottish Conservative welfare reform spokesman John Lamont accused the SNP of using Trident as “cynical political football”.
He added that said Labour was “muddled” on the issue.
The National View: Trident would be no use to deal with the tragedy of Syria
Ex-Labour minister slams party’s opposition to Trident renewal
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here