Scottish CND profoundly disagrees with Mr. Arnold’s highly misinformed comments in The Herald (25.09.2025). There is no factual basis to support them whatsoever. Especially egregious is Mr Arnold’s claim that in order to join NATO, a prospective independent Scotland would have to accept a nuclear base at Faslane as a permanent facility. He provides no evidence as to why such nuclear weapons would be imposed by NATO on Scotland in the case of independence. The reality is there is no legal prerequisite to host another country’s nuclear weapons in order to be a member of either the EU or NATO.
In any case, Scottish CND laments the SNP’s policy of NATO membership and advocates follow Ireland’s lead, which is an EU country, a non-NATO state and a founding signatory to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We believe Ireland is a model of how an independent Scotland could pursue international security and enjoy a strong diplomatic reputation on the world stage. Furthermore, the TPNW provides a robust legal framework for the process of disarming and removing nuclear weapons from the territory of a signatory state. Signing this treaty would secure massive international support for Scotland to remove the UK’s nuclear weapons from its West Coast.
We would also highlight that under the current devolution settlement, the MoD is exempted from environmental protections. The Scottish government agency in charge of enforcing environmental regulations cannot sanction the British military for radioactive risk incidents at Faslane and Coulport that have been occurring more frequently since 2020. That is by far a more intractable constitutional contradiction than an independent Scotland’s prospective membership of the EU and nuclear-free policy.
In this era of war-fever it is especially important that we have a Scottish government committed to genuine common security. That means abandoning the threat of nuclear omnicide as a “defence” strategy, adhering rigorously to international law and developing sovereignty from foreign interests, all of which the UK government has failed to do in the 21st century.
Personal Comment from Lynn Jamieson, Chair SCND
26th September has been declared International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons by UN which is consistent with the majority of countries in the world signing up to a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), a treaty which the 9 nuclear states will find increasingly difficult to ignore. It is an irony that on the 25th the Herald published an ‘exclusive’ suggesting that the removal of nuclear weapons from a newly independent Scotland would threaten NATO and EU membership. The piece struts the opinion of a defence analyst who believes the myth that nuclear weapons keep the world safe and who extends this magical thinking to suggest that actively hosting nuclear weapons would be a reasonable condition for Scotland joining the EU and NATO. If such madness were to come to pass then our near neighbour Ireland, a signatory of TPNW, would no longer be a member of the EU. Irelands respected contributions to international peace keeping and diplomacy are outside of NATO. Norway is a NATO county and has not yet signed the TPNW but was proud to play a key role in bringing the treaty about and remains committed to working from within NATO towards ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Scottish CND supports an independent Scotland because we believe it is the fastest route to removal of UK nuclear weapon system based in Scotland from Scotland and the UK. There is no UK base with equivalent facilities of Coulport and Faslane and so the system would then have nowhere to go, except perhaps the USA which owns and services its missiles and on whose military machine its software, communications and targeting depends. This would make the myth of ‘independent nuclear deterrence’ utterly transparent as the RUK would be left with the US bombs that have recently arrived at ‘RAF Lakenheath’ which is entirely in the charge of 48th Fighter Wing of the US Airforce, whose motto ‘always ready to own the skies’ emblazes the gate. UK silence about US complicity in the horror of Gaza illustrates the need for a complete break with a defence policy that subordinates the UK to the US President. As long as our leaders lack the courage to start nuclear disarmament the UK will remain a vassal of the USA. Scotland surely should aspire to a better future.
Lynn Jamieson
Chair, Scottish CND