No Nukes in an Independent Scotland
The UK’s nuclear weapons aren’t just an outrageous waste of hundreds of billions of pounds, they also make for extremely unsafe neighbours on the Clyde.
The news earlier this month that radioactive water leaked into beautiful Loch Long in 2022 should concern everyone. For those of us familiar with the safety record at Faslane and Coulport though, it was no surprise.
Far from an isolated event, we now know that the base also saw over 100 reported safety incidents over the last 12 months, including a Category A event earlier this year, the most serious kind and one which the Royal Navy says carries an “actual or high potential for radioactive release to the environment”.
At no point has the UK Government shown any concern for local communities or Scotland’s environment. They didn’t even tell locals about the toxic leak in 2022 - and they tried to keep the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reports into that incident a secret.
For far too long the Ministry of Defence has played fast and loose with these weapons of mass slaughter, throwing billions of pounds at private contractors whilst failing to maintain their own bases and equipment.
There are few sites in the world as dangerous as Coulport, where the UK’s nuclear warheads are kept. An accident or shoddy maintenance there could have catastrophic consequences.
For people who live in the local area – the communities I represent – it was particularly chilling to find out years later that this leak happened - and that it was initially covered up to save the Navy the embarrassment.
The nuclear arsenal at Faslane and Coulport doesn’t exist to keep us safe. The UK pours obscene amounts of money into these weapons rather than into our public services or tackling crises like the climate emergency for one reason, to keep its seat on the UN Security Council and keep up the delusion that this country is still a global superpower.
Opposition to these weapons of mass killing has always played a central and defining role in the movement for Scotland’s independence. Our goal isn’t just to get them out of Scottish waters, it is to force the UK into a long overdue rethink with the goal of scrapping them altogether.
One day joining the many countries around the world who have signed up to the international treaty against nuclear weapons is key to the Scottish Greens’ vision for an independent Scotland.
It would be a triumph for world peace, and a burden off the shoulders of those of us across the West of Scotland who have to live in the shadow of these moral abominations.