A majority in Scotland want the UK to keep its nuclear deterrent and remain a member of Nato, according to a poll.
The Trident submarine fleet is based at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde and its removal is a cornerstone of the independence movement.
Research by Survation conducted for Scotland In Union, a campaign group, found that 58 per cent of people backed the UK keeping the weapons, with 20 per cent against and 23 per cent who said they did not know. The poll found that 82 per cent of Scots ranked UK membership of Nato as “important”, while 9 per cent rated it as “not important” and 9 per cent did not know.
Pamela Nash, the chief executive of Scotland in Union, said the research showed Scots wanted to maintain a position of influence in the world. “SNP politicians are frequently trying to put themselves on the global stage, yet they remain driven by an insular ideology that would put an extra border between us and the world,” she said. “They are ready to walk away from the power for good and influence that we have at the G7 and the UN, and to diminish our standing in Nato, which has been key to our peace and safety for decades.”
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, will next week travel to the US to meet politicians and business representatives in Washington. Last year The Times reported that the State Department was “monitoring the situation closely”, with Faslane of particular strategic importance to the US. The SNP is opposed to Trident but changed its policy a decade ago to back joining Nato in a controversial conference vote that led two MSPs to quit, with both eventually joining the Scottish Greens.
A spokesman for the SNP said that “a Tory government dragged us out of the EU against our will” and that “under Westminster, Scotland’s influence in the world is growing smaller by the day”. He added: “An independent Scotland’s security and safety is best guaranteed as a non-nuclear member of Nato, just like Denmark and Norway and almost every other member.”
