THE UK should have warships based in Scotland to protect the country’s offshore energy assets, John Swinney has said.
Speaking in Edinburgh on Wednesday as he laid out his SNP Government’s position on international affairs in the wake of Donald Trump’s threats on Greenland, the First Minister hit out at the UK Government over its decision not to base Royal Navy ships north of the Border despite Scotland’s geopolitical importance due to the Arctic.
“I am very conscious that what is in the national interest of the UK is not always in the national interest of Scotland,” Swinney said. “An independent Scotland would, quite rightly, have the ability to and would make different choices.
“Our worldviews overlap in many important ways, as you would expect, but unlike the UK, Scotland has no need and no desire to project power on a global stage. While Britain may choose to spend billions of pounds on nuclear weapons, that is not a choice any Scottish Government would make.”
He went on: “As the far north opens up, a northern nation like Scotland is well placed to play her part. It does not require a long memory to recall the UK, while increasing investment in nuclear bombs, chose to scrap its entire maritime patrol fleet and its replacement.
“The United Kingdom has chosen not to base a single offshore patrol vessel, frigate, or destroyer in Scotland – requiring vessels to be dispatched from the south coast of England when the flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet arrived off Scotland.”
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Swinney said that Scotland requires “adequate, multi-layered naval capability in Scottish waters, to protect our offshore energy assets, to protect our underwater cables, and adequate air defences in Scotland to deal with threats to our airports – as has happened across northern Europe – from drones”.
“An independent Scotland would not leave these gaps,” he added.
The UK's warships are primarily based in Plymouth and Portsmouth, both of which are on the south coast of England. Its nuclear weaponry and submarines are based on the Clyde at Helensburgh.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Swinney said that he believed UK warships should be based in Scotland because “that is the environment we're now in”.
“We need to be more and more conscious of what is going on in the waters around about us,” he added.
Asked where the ships should be based, the SNP leader said: “These are operational decisions for the United Kingdom Government.”
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On whether he had raised the issue with the Westminster government, Swinney said: “In a context where we are now facing significant geopolitical uncertainty, I'm simply setting out my strong list of what I think needs to be the case, what people could expect of an independent Scottish Government exercising that role in ensuring their security and of cooperating with other countries and, of course, we can discuss these issues with the UK Government.”
The First Minister added elsewhere: “My whole argument today has been about the actual physical security of Scotland and recognising the geographic position of the country.
“I cited areas where I think we've got glaring weaknesses in our physical defence, particularly around about the deployment of surveillance vessels which will protect us in these circumstances.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Scotland plays a key role in the UK’s defence, with bases such as RAF Lossiemouth, where our fast jets and P-8 submarine hunting planes are based, and HMNB Clyde, the home of the nuclear deterrent.
“These bases in Scotland play a vital role in protecting the North Atlantic from Russia’s aggression and the nuclear deterrent protects the UK and our NATO Allies every day.
“Scotland is also a powerhouse of innovation, with a proud military history and expertise in defence, supporting 11,800 industry jobs and receiving £2.1 billion in annual UK Government spending.”
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