Scottish Independence, Trident & the Question of Working Class Solidarity

YCL members outside Scotland give their take on the promises of ‘nuclear disarmament’ trotted out by the YES Campaign.

The YCL rejects the SNP model for Scottish ‘independence’ due, amongst other things, to a ‘NIMBY’ (Not In My Back Yard) stance on Trident weapons as Scottish anti-nuclear groups attempt to foist missiles on what would remain of Britain.

Should the people of Scotland vote Yes it is perhaps likely that Holyrood would remove the Trident missile systems from the country, though hardly guaranteed given continued NATO Membership. This lacks forethought and a proper analysis of the aim of nuclear disarmament. The British ruling class have already selected the most suitable locations for relocation of the missile systems – which would be based at Falmouth and Plymouth in Cornwall and Devon respectively. This obviously puts to rest the argument that Trident would have “no where to go”.

Both locations would continue to expose a large number of people (25,000 in Falmouth and 250,000 in Plymouth) to the possibility of being targets for potential aggressors towards the British government and to the possibility of a nuclear accident. Currently the missiles are based at the Clyde Naval Base, near the village of Garelochhead in Scotland.

The ‘Yes’ camp has sought support from anti-nuclear groups such as Scottish CND which has climbed on board the SNP’s Yes Campaign bandwagon. This runs counter to our real aim of global nuclear disarmament and even shamefully stands to divide the peace movement along opportunistic nationalist lines.

The YCL notes that Scottish CND must be totally blinded by nationalism to back this proposal and rejects the decision of Scottish nationalists merely to move the weapons of mass destruction on the grounds that it violates working-class solidarity and won’t bring the world one step closer to nuclear disarmament. The working class and other progressives should remain together in the struggle for global nuclear disarmament – rather than eagerly shifting the burden and risks, divisively to comrades across the border. No to Trident on the Clyde, or in Falmouth or Plymouth! Yes to disarmament, peace & Socialism!