HOW reassuring it is to have Angus Robertson in charge of Scotland’s “external affairs” – even if foreign policy is a reserved issue. Mr Robertson tells us not only that having a secessionist Scotland expel nuclear weapons from its territory would be no obstacle to Scotland joining NATO but also that it “would not embolden Putin” (“Ditching Trident ‘will not boost Putin'”, The Herald, March 5). How lucky we are to have someone with such insight into the minds of both Nato leaders and Vladimir Putin making policy for us. This is the message from the SNP’s latest taxpayer-funded propaganda paper in a series that, in SNP eyes, makes the case for separatism. In reality, this paper, like its predecessors – particularly the risible effort allegedly making the economic case – is a catalogue of wishful thinking based on best-case scenarios unsupported by evidence. Thus Scotland “would have a strong voice internationally” and “would be able to negotiate for ourselves and deliver on our own priorities”. As usual, it is all about burnishing Scotland’s image on the assumption that admiring foreigners will bend to its will. Mr Robertson seems unaware of two things. Yes, there are Nato members who do not have and do not host nuclear weapons. But these same members have not at any time had nuclear weapons on their territory that they have chosen to relinquish. Second, NATO, and especially its General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has spoken very soberly and even sternly of the need for Nato members to increase their defence spending, to prepare for any future Russian aggression. Mr Robertson confirmed that Scotland would not have its own submarines but would concentrate on maritime patrol aircraft. Beyond that, it is not clear what Scotland would have to offer Nato. On April 29, 2022, the SNP’s defence spokesman, Stewart McDonald explained that Scotland should develop a “capability in military medicine that we can readily offer partners in time of need”, conjuring up images of uniformed personnel carrying first aid boxes around a battlefield. At least the SNP is consistent, getting civil servants once more to labour long and hard to produce yet another vanity exercise in separatist pie-in-the-sky aspiration. Jill Stephenson.
