Books: Trident

Review

Uncharted Waters: The UK, Nuclear Weapons and the Scottish Question

William Walker - one of the authors, who is professor of international relations at St Andrews University, says Scotland could go nuclear over the retention of Trident. Walker - also author of Nuclear Entrapment - THORP and the politics of commitment - writing in the Financial Times, 9th March 2007 says over the period Trident's replacement is expected to operate, it is likely either that Scotland will become an independent state or that the Union will survive through a more extensive devolution of powers to the Scottish parliament. Tens of billions of pounds could be spent providing a nuclear deterrent for a state that no longer exists, or a deterrent that could become increasingly unreliable and even inoperable under devolution. The government has made no effort to win hearts and minds in Scotland on this issue. No minister, let alone the prime minister, has ventured north of the border specifically to argue the case for Trident's retention, feeding a perception of imposition. Scotland is developing its own political sensibility that shows increasing dis-respect for legal boundaries separating reserved and devolved matters. Furthermore, a decision to replace Trident will carry little legitimacy north of the border if it depends on the Labour Whip and votes cast by a Conservative party with little standing in Scotland. Opposition to nuclear weapons in Scotland is too deep-seated, going far beyond the SNP.

Trident's operation out of Scotland is set to become more problematic even under the current devolution settlement. As policing, transport, emergency services and land-use planning are devolved to Scotland, Trident cannot function without the Scottish executive and parliament's full co-operation with the UK government. The more powers that are devolved, the more the MoD must rely on Scottish goodwill. Co-operation is framed by a concordat on defence, a gentlemen's agreement that has worked reasonably well with Labour in office in both Edinburgh and London since 1998. It will be another story when different parties dominate those parliaments, especially if an SNP-led coalition and a Conservative government find themselves cohabiting.