THE SNP have said that Labour party leaders are “out of touch” with not only the people of Scotland, but also their own MPs, after Labour announced that Trident will be at the heart of their election manifesto.

Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan yesterday revealed the renewal of the Trident Nuclear Weapons will be in the party’s manifesto, despite a clear majority of their candidates opposing them.

SNP Defence and Westminster leader Angus Robertson spoke out against the decision, saying that “the Labour leadership is totally out of touch with the people of Scotland”.

Last week a poll for the New Statesmen showed 75 per cent of Labour’s 2015 general election candidates said they did not support the renewal of the nuclear weapons based on the Clyde.

The admission of their manifesto plans came after senior figure Lord Wood was reported to have said that he wanted the party to abandon the party’s commitment to the weapons. Although more party members are starting to voice their opposition to the £100 billion renewal, Shadow Justice Secretary Khan said the party leaders plan to go ahead.

When asked if he could confirm the party were still committed to maintaining the weapons, Khan said: “I can and I do”, adding: “you’ll see the manifesto published shortly which will say that.” Earlier this week several Scottish MPs called for Ed Miliband to rule out any potential coalition with the SNP but Miliband and other senior figures have refused to do so.

This latest announcement is likely to come as a further blow to the party’s Scottish MPs who will be facing their toughest election battle in many years.

Robertson said: “These comments show that the Labour leadership is totally out of touch with the people of Scotland and even with the wishes of three-quarters of their candidates, who oppose Trident renewal.”

“An absolute priority for a strong team of SNP MPs elected in May will be getting Trident renewal halted. The more MPs we get elected, the greater the chances of holding the balance of power and achieving the end of Trident, which will free up enormous resources,” he said.

“The cost of Trident renewal is some £3bn a year, rising to £4bn in the 2020s – and this money could and should be far more productively spent on health and education, including childcare,” Robertson added.

Coordinator of the Scottish CND John Ainslie said he was “disappointed” at yesterday afternoon’s announcement.

Ainslie said: “We are disappointed that the Labour party will commit to renewing Trident in their election manifesto. This goes against the views of many of their own candidates as well as the majority of people in Scotland. In a time of austerity the last thing we should be doing is spending £100 on more weapons of mass destruction.

“These weapons only make the world more dangerous, they do nothing to make us any safer.” Recent polls in Scotland have shown that only 31 per cent of people support the weapons being housed at Faslane. A poll last year said that while only 25 per cent of English residents want them scrapped, double that number would in Scotland.

The final decision on the Renewal of the Submarines is set to be taken in 2016, but the current renewal plans have already also been backed by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

Despite the cross party Westminster support, a report in yesterday’s Sunday Herald revealed key projects vital to the weapon’s renewal have faced problems. According to the Government’s Office for Nuclear Regulation a £634 million project was halted after facing serious management and design problems.

The ‘Pegasus’ plant had been in production since 2013 and the site was designed to house production of the enriched uranium for the nuclear warheads and the fuel for the submarines.

Robertson had said that the news must throw the renewal plans “into doubt” adding that the MoD had some serious questions to answer.

Robertson was joined by former Liberal defence minister, Sir Nick Harvey, who said that we “need some clarification into the status of Pegasus”.

As well as this, a report from internal watchdog the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) said that there is a shortage of suitably qualified nuclear staff at the base, leading to a “principal threat to the maintenance of safety”.