Nuclear Weapons

I have been stirred from my semi-retirement from blogging by the news that David Cameron has apparently "warned" Alex Salmond about the possible use of Holyrood powers over planning to block the new generation of UK nuclear weapons being based in Scotland.

This is breathtaking arrogance from the man who would be Prime Minister. His comments were recorded for a BBC programme about ten years of Scottish devolution. In the same programme he also admits that his party got it wrong when they opposed devolution. These seem to be two contradictory positions: it seems that he doesn't like the fact his party went against the overwhelming views of the Scottish people in the devolution debate but at the same time he is perfectly happy to ride roughshod over their views when it comes to the imposition of a replacement for Trident. In every test of public opinion, the Scottish people have said they do not want Trident or nuclear weapons and the Scottish Parliament echoed this view, voting against them in June 2007.

Far from using this issue to "pick a fight" with Westminster, Alex Salmond is doing exactly what he was elected to do and that is standing up for the people of Scotland. Whether Cameron realises it or not, he is illustrating exactly why people vote SNP and is giving them ever more reason to. The images conjured by his comments take us back to the days of the poll tax when hugely unpopular policies were inflicted by a Conservative Government on Scotland. The frustration felt by ordinary people about their powerlessness and the obvious democratic deficit was one of the catalysts for the devolution campaign and could also form the basis of a major push towards Scottish Independence.

Is this the start of a Conservative push to alienate voters in Scotland and accelerate Independence? It would certainly be in the interests of their party in the longer term if Scotland, which has traditionally returned a majority of Labour MPs, was suddenly removed from the UK Parliamentary equation. The tories would have a much better chance of staying in govenment in perpetuity and that must be something being considered by the tory strategists. Of course, the tories traditionally do so badly in Scotland at Westminster elections that their campaign room shows a map which includes the rest of the UK but is missing Scotland. They say a picture tells a thousand words and it certainly says a lot about their attitude to the people of Scotland.