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Would Scottish Independence Mean the End of UK's Nuclear Arsenal?
Lasrick writes The referendum on Scottish independence on September 18th affects more than just residents of the United Kingdom. All of the UK's nuclear deterrent is located in Scotland, and Alex Salmond and the Scottish government have pledged to safely remove and permanently ban nuclear weapons from Scottish territory within the first term of a newly independent parliament.
Nope
They would just move it to England. Or Wales.
This might be the least intelligent question I've seen on Slashdot.
The article is a load of bollocks, moving the facilities has indeed been looked into but the MoD just hasn't committed to any plan given that no decision on independence has been made yet. The only thing the MoD have ruled out is keeping Faslane as a Sovereign Base Area similar to those on Cyprus.
And regarding the last sentence - Scotland does not unilaterally inherit the UK's nuclear deterrent simply because it happened to be on Scottish soil, so they do not have unilateral authority get to dispose of them. The will be passed to the rest of the UK post-independence, who will then make the decision about what to do.
And the article gets a pass on citations because ... why?
Anyhow - check out the following:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-s...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-s...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-s...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-...
http://www.theguardian.com/pol...
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
It should be noted that the nuclear armoury is based only 15 miles from Scotland's most populous area, the city of Glasgow -- which in the politics of the union is totally fine so long as it's nowhere near English cities. The system has had multiple failures and there have been attempted coverups of accidents at Coulport (where the weapons are stored). The Royal Navy also stores the decrepit and rusting nuclear submarines at Rosyth, a mere 10 miles from Edinburgh, our capital city. Again the thought of storing these at Southampton or Portsmouth would not be considered because it's too close to English who don't want rusting nuclear vessels in their backyard.
Senior MOD officials have been on the back foot in this debate even though most UK military assets have already been removed from Scotland (airbases have been shut and army decimated). Rather like in a divorce where one party tries to remove as many assets as possible before a possible split. The problem with the nuclear armoury is that none of the other areas of the UK want it and it would be political suicide for an English MP to accept into their area.
Scotland, if the vote is YES next month, would be a small country and it would not be right to have nuclear arms. Scotland wants to set an example by not having them on our soil. Scotland has only been invaded by one country in the last 1000 years, it's a country to our south. Scots like the English (this is not an anti-English referendum) - we just don't like the arseholes in Westminster telling us what to do (neither does large areas of England as it happens)
To learn more about the Scottish independence, see The Wee Blue Book
The whole currency exchange actually increased the share of the "Yes" vote. The whole patronising attitude of the Westminster parties had the opposite to intended effect.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
I am delighted to confirm that we have made plans to resite our Nuclear Deterrent. After much consultation and with the agreement of the Legislative Assembly, I am pleased to announce that in the event of a Referendum "yes" vote, the UK will be breaking ground on a new facility in the Falkland Islands.
This is an immensely popular decision that has the full support of all our inhabitants, stated the Chief Executive of the Legislative Assembly.
On hearing this announcement Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina, wept before exploding into flames.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
there's no USSR
for the moment, but Putin is on top of it
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
The americans have enough already .. there's no USSR .. I wonder why they'd want to maintain an "arsenal" .. wouldnt a few thermo tipped pencils be enough deterrent ?
Ultimately, yes, because you can't expect another country, even a close ally, to risk nuclear war for you. The UK can't guarantee that the States would retaliate if necessary, especially since they would be bringing likely retaliation, and millions of American citizens deaths, on themselves. Nuclear warheads suck, but once you have them you damn well keep them, otherwise the deterrent doesn't work.
"Scotland has only been invaded by, erm, one country, many times as it happens, in the last 1000 years".
Nice try, and I agree with the spirit of your post. But have you forgotten Norway?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...
Although the Scots gave back as good as they got:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifest...
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.