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ANTI-NUCLEAR activists promised “unity” yesterday as a leading campaign officially joined the “yes” camp in Scotland’s independence referendum.
The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament confirmed yesterday that it had registered with the Electoral Commission as a campaigning organisation in light of the SNP government’s pledge to remove nuclear weapons from Scottish soil.
The vote in September has come to dominate discussions in the nation’s peace movement, with some activists arguing a Yes vote could herald the end of Britain’s nuclear stockpile.
Trident’s fleet of nuclear-armed submarines now docked in the Clyde are due for a £65 billion overhaul by 2016 to remain functional, according to the Ministry of Defence.
But both anti-war and anti-austerity movements have pressed Westminster to abandon the project instead.
Meanwhile defence officials have insisted there are no other acceptable sites for the fleet in Britain, spurring some activists to argue that Trident’s entire existence could hinge on the referendum result.
Chairman Arthur West told the Morning Star last August that campaign supporters were willing to work with any political party prepared to oppose Trident, including Labour, Lib Dems and Tories in the Better Together Campaign.
But those parties’ intransigence on Trident had effectively conflated the constitutional issue with nuclear disarmament, as only the SNP had pledged their removal.
Mr West stressed yesterday that the decision to campaign stemmed from a critical vote at their annual conference in September.
“This decision was taken because our purpose as an organisation is to promote nuclear disarmament and we believe that independence offers the best opportunity for this.
“We recognise that some of our members and supporters may have other reasons for not making this choice and we respect that and we will continue to work with a range of political parties,” he said.
Meanwhile former chairman Alan MacKinnon told the Morning Star that the vote had been “a difficult one,” with allies in the wider peace movement on either side of the debate and scepticism about the SNP’s commitment.
“It reflects the fact that a Yes vote would create new opportunities for getting rid of Trident.
“There are differences inside the campaign but we’re maintaining unity,” he added.
