Scottish Labour Needs Trident Debate, Neil Findlay Says
Labour cannot take a "a head-in-the-sand approach'' to Trident and dodge a debate on renewing the nuclear weapons system at its Scottish conference, a former Scottish Labour leadership contender has said.
Delegates at the party's UK conference in Brighton voted to debate other issues but MSP Neil Findlay warned members in Scotland against following suit.
Mr Findlay, who ran for Scottish Labour leader in 2013 against Jim Murphy, insisted the debate about whether the party should support the renewal of the nuclear submarines was "too important an issue to duck''.
Speaking ahead of the party's Scottish conference, which gets under way in Perth on Friday, he said: "This is a vital issue and we can't take a head-in-the-sand approach.
"It's important for the party and the country that we put Trident renewal on the agenda.''
Writing in the conference bulletin of the Labour Campaign for Socialism, Mr Findlay warned his party: "If we shy away from discussing this issue (Trident renewal), we can be sure that others won't be slow in pointing out our reluctance to do so.''
The Lothians MSP described renewing Trident as being "the emperor's new clothes - it's a threadbare illusion of great power status that we hope no-one will ever call up us to use''.
He also argued: "If we accept the 'Trident means jobs' argument, then it means that we can see no other role in our economy for some of our most highly-skilled workers and technicians. That doesn't sound like the sort of economy we want or be prepared to settle for.
"Instead we could be using the workforce, with their immensely valuable skills base, in developing new technologies for the 21st century.''
While Labour's position continues to be to support the continuation of Trident, new leader Jeremy Corbyn is firmly against nuclear weapons.
His backing for unilateral disarmament puts him at odds with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who instead supports the removal of nuclear weapons through reciprocal international agreements.
UK Government ministers are reportedly considering holding the crunch vote on renewing the nuclear deterrent, which is based at Faslane on the Clyde, before Christmas.
SNP MSP Bill Kidd, co-president of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), said: "This is a welcome intervention from a senior Labour MSP - and only ramps up the pressure that is building on Kezia Dugdale and the rest of the Labour leadership to take their head out of the sand and finally let people in Scotland know their position on Trident renewal.
"We now know that the cost of renewing Trident has skyrocketed to £167 billion - and with austerity cuts hammering less well-off people and putting real pressure on public services, Kezia Dugdale surely can't maintain her silence on this irresponsible, immoral spending for much longer.
"Kezia Dugdale would be well advised to take heed and join with the SNP and the majority of people in Scotland by using her party's conference to oppose these abhorrent weapons outright - rather than doing everything she can to duck the issue.''
Mr Kidd added: "Warm words from Jeremy Corbyn simply aren't going to cut it - it's time that the whole Labour party saw sense and stood against this reckless and immoral spending on weapons of mass destruction.
"For Labour to have any claim whatsoever to be a progressive party, their entire party needs to stand with the vast majority of people in Scotland and the SNP to get rid of these abhorrent nuclear weapons once and for all - no ifs, no buts. And if their conference chooses to duck the issue this week, people in Scotland will draw their own conclusions as to where Kezia Dugdale stands.''