The only way to remove them from Scotland is with independence. Don't have an account? Sign up. Skip to content. Share this article: 0. Facebook Share. Twitter Share. Whatsapp Share. Facebook Messenger Share. Print Share. British government officials were banned from doing any work on what to do with Trident if Scotland had voted to secede from the UK in September , Gower said, because to do so was deemed by politicians to be an admission of defeat.
The former admiral, now an independent analyst, left Whitehall at the end of the year. At the time, some of the most comprehensive analysis was put together by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
A government spokesperson said the UK was committed to maintaining the nuclear deterrent. Although Plymouth is used to having nuclear vessels on its doorstep, local protest against such a plan involving increased risks and the destruction of a National Trust site would be understandable. Falmouth is another contender, at least for the armaments depot and EHJ, assuming the submarines were based in Devonport.
The plan would involve taking over the whole Penarrow peninsular and demolishing the villages of Flushing and Mylor. The depot would not create many long-term jobs and would impact badly on area heavily reliant on tourism and water sports as well as being too close to the 26, people living in Falmouth.
Portland The former naval base and air station close to Weymouth have been considered as a possible alternative to Faslane. Since the base closed in the s the site has been redeveloped as the Olympic sailing centre and Osprey Quay leisure centre which would have to be demolished.
Milford Haven , Wales has a deepwater port with space for both submarine base and armaments depot. However, the port is now an important energy importing and storage site. Daily arrivals of large tankers and stores of oil and LNG make it incompatible with submarine movements, explosives and nuclear materials. Barrow in Furness. Home to all British submarine construction, the Walney channel that submarines would have to navigate is extremely shallow and only usable by an SSBN a few times in the monthly tidal cycle — an unacceptable tactical limitation.
The potential sites for a submarine base or armaments depot are extremely exposed. Although the site is quite remote from other main population centres, it would be too close to the 70, inhabitants of the town. Foreign basing. It has been suggested that the submarines could operate from Kings Bay, Georgia in the United States. Although many of the US Trident facilities are compatible with the UK deterrent, there would be considerable political complications. The deterrent would also become considerably less independent of the US than under the current arrangement.
The site is already very compact with little room for expansion. The RN boats and Trident missiles are considerably larger than the French boats and their M51 missiles and incompatible with virtually all the French facilities.
Despite growing defence cooperation efforts, the political implications of basing UK nuclear weapons on French soil would probably be even more convoluted than for the US.
It is hard not to conclude that if an independent Scotland will not allow nuclear weapons to remain on its soil this would probably signal the end of the British nuclear deterrent.
It is clear an independent Scotland would be a disaster for UK defence and the Royal Navy in particular. As Britain moves towards a future outside the EU, it is critical that a strong Union is maintained which would benefit us all. Those in Westminster must persist in making this case to the people of Scotland while ensuring they serve their interests with equal vigour to those in England. Search for: Search Button. July 22, RNAD Coulport — the crux of the issue The facility at Coulport is used to store the missiles and nuclear warheads before loading them aboard the submarines.
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