IF Scotland wants to remove nuclear weapons from its soil post-independence, signing a treaty banning them would be a “golden key”, a campaigner has said.

Janet Fenton, the secretary of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), warned that a newly independent Scotland could find itself in a “David and Goliath” style position in attempting to negotiate with the UK Government.

The SNP have made clear that, should Scotland vote for independence, the UK Government would be compelled to remove the nuclear weapons from its military bases at Faslane and Coulport, on the Clyde.

Speaking to media on Monday at the launch of a white paper on Scotland’s place in the world after independence, External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson said the question of where to store the nukes instead was for the UK Government, not him.

READ MORE: Independent Scotland not committed to treaty banning nuclear weapons, Robertson says

Robertson further courted controversy within his own party after he repeatedly declined to say an independent Scotland would sign a treaty banning nuclear weapons – the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) – despite the SNP’s previous headline support for it.

Instead, the Cabinet Secretary would only say that an independent Scotland would follow its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which was signed in 1968.

The TPNW calls for an outright ban on nuclear weapons, while the older NPT only looks to prevent new countries from acquiring them.

Commentators are split on whether signing the TPNW and being a member of Nato are mutually exclusive. Nato has spoken out against the treaty and no members have signed.

Writing for The National, Fenton, who also sits as a non-MSP member of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament, argued that a country that signed the TPNW would be able to join Nato.

She further argued that signing the TPNW would “ensure Scotland had the full support and backing of the UN and all the TPNW member states – rather than finding itself in some kind of David and Goliath requirement to negotiate with Westminster for the removal of the weapons at their Faslane launchpad”.

READ MORE: LBC caller makes perfect case for independence in scathing takedown of Westminster

Fenton highlighted how Robertson had been among the signatories to a pledge pulled together by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to “work for the signature and ratification of this landmark treaty by our respective countries, as we consider the abolition of nuclear weapons to be a global public good of the highest order and an essential step to promote the security and well-being of all peoples”.

In 2017, ICAN was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in pushing for adherence to the TPNW.

You can read Fenton’s full article on The National’s website.