Scottish Labour Members Vote Against Trident Renewal
Scottish Labour members have backed a call for the UK's Trident nuclear missile system to be scrapped.
A motion opposing the renewal of Trident was debated by delegates at the party's conference in Perth, with trade unions, MSPs and other members split over the controversial issue.
The vote puts Scottish Labour at odds with the UK party, whose position continues to be to support the continuation of Trident, although UK leader Jeremy Corbyn is firmly against nuclear weapons.
Members voted in favour of the motion by 70.3% to 29.7%.
A total of 11,444 votes were cast by members of Constituency Labour Parties, with 70.2% backing the motion, and 29.8% rejecting it.
The trade unions cast 196,875 votes, with 70.4% voting in favour, and 29.6% voting against.
Earlier at the conference, members lined up to speak in the debate both for and against the continuation of the weapons system at Faslane on the Clyde.
Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale, who supports the removal of nuclear weapons on a multilateral basis, watched from her seat on the stage, and now finds herself taking a different position from the membership in Scotland.
Trade unions Unite and Unison backed Trident removal, while the GMB, which also represents defence workers, spoke out against the motion.
Stephen Low, of Glasgow Southside Constituency Labour Party and Unison, opened the debate, stating that renewing Trident ''is something that we do not need and cannot afford''.
He said: ''When it comes to the real threats to this country, things like terrorism, things like cyber attacks, things like climate change, Trident is utterly, utterly useless.
''We shouldn't want Trident renewal even if it were free, but of course it is not free, it comes at an utterly bewildering cost.''
On defence jobs, Mr Low said Trident was the ''real threat'' because the cost of renewal is so huge that it will lead to cutbacks in conventional defence spending.
''This is a life and death decision,'' he said. ''Conference, let's choose life, let's choose to be the change we want to see in the world, let's cancel Trident renewal.''
Pat Rafferty, Scottish secretary of the Unite union, backed the calls for the nuclear weapons not to be renewed - but stressed this must go ''hand in hand'' with efforts to support workers into new jobs.
He said: ''Everyone wants a world free of nuclear weapons but a multilateral position should not be used as cover while waiting for others to take a lead.''
But he added: ''The argument for non-renewal must go hand in hand with a guarantee that positions, jobs and skills sustained by the current system must be supported by the creation of defence diversification agencies at Scottish and UK level.
''Until we see some commitments to this, as stated in the motion, then trade unions will continue to support the continuity of employment of our members.''
But Gary Smith, of the GMB, said the motion's backing for a ''firm commitment on the retention of defence workers' jobs'', contained no detail about future employment opportunities and pay and conditions.
''This debate is a nonsense, and frankly it is an utter indulgence,'' he said.
''We've closed dozens of yards, we have closed thousands of factories up and down this country, and people have seen what actually happens.
''High skilled well-paid union jobs replaced by part-time, low skill, low paid work. Rising levels of unemployment, increasingly levels of poverty - that's what the real alternative is.''