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Speech in Scottish Parliament Jackie Baillie |
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| 21 December 2006 | ||
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Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): We have had as many as four debates on the subject of Trident in as many months. As ever, the consequence is that more heat than light is generated. As I did in previous debates, I reflect that, if the SNP cared so much about the issue, it should allocate more than one hour and 15 minutes to the subject, as it has done today. I regret that the debate is more about a cheap political headline than it is about genuine debate. At the start of her speech, Nicola Sturgeon quoted from a survey. I listened carefully to what she said, so I will share the results of another survey with her. In a survey by the Electoral Commission, almost two thirds of people said that they wished—passionately wished—that the Scottish Parliament would stick to talking about the areas for which it has responsibility. Nicola Sturgeon: Will the member take an intervention? Jackie Baillie: Will the member just hold on a minute? The SNP needs to be a bit less disingenuous. MPs at Westminster will decide the issue—the 59 MPs who were elected to represent Scotland. Those MPs, six of whom are from the SNP, have responsibility for the decision. So what have the feeble six been up to? Nicola Sturgeon: In 1999, CND conducted a survey to which Jackie Baillie contributed. In a letter that she sent to the CND, she said that "no additional Trident missile bodies" should be bought. In the survey, she said that "Trident should be decommissioned". Should we not have a bit of honesty from Jackie Baillie? Jackie Baillie: Absolutely. When Nicola Sturgeon tried to tout that round the press last week, no one picked up on it. What I said is entirely consistent with a multilateral position. If Nicola Sturgeon had been honest enough to read further from my letter, Parliament would have heard that what I said was that the issue was about the need for a jobs diversification strategy. The SNP has not engaged with that issue. I did not get an answer from Nicola Sturgeon, so I pose the question again: what have the feeble six been up to? When did they last focus properly on the issue? As Roseanna Cunningham suggested on a previous occasion, there has been no debate on the issue at Westminster. One would have to search quite far back to find the answer. Instead of debating the issue at Westminster, the SNP prefers to posture in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament, where it has no direct influence on the decision. Indeed, some less kind commentators have suggested that the debate is entirely diversionary, given that it comes in the week that an £11 billion black hole has been exposed in the SNP budget and leading experts shredded its plans for council tax reform. I would not be so unkind. Nicola Sturgeon talked about the honourable thing to do in the debate. Everyone wants to see the decommissioning of nuclear weapons—I do, and I hope that she does, too. A world that is free of nuclear weapons is a genuine and shared aspiration, although we may disagree on whether disarmament should be done on a multilateral or unilateral basis. However, in an increasingly uncertain world, we have a responsibility to consider what is best for the nation's security. Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): Will the member give way? Jackie Baillie: No. I challenge the SNP on whether it is being honourable in the debate. Since the last debate took place, what action has the SNP taken to consider the alternatives, including those for the people who are employed in the defence industry? I am referring to the 11,000 people whose jobs are dependent on Faslane and Coulport, 7,000 of whom are employed directly by the Faslane base, never mind the impact on the wider defence industry throughout Scotland. Has the SNP moved on from its previous position? Let me remind its members what that was. Alex Salmond said that the Scottish navy would be at Rosyth. Great. However, someone in the west said that the Scottish navy would be at Faslane. My goodness, but the Scottish navy will be massive. We are not that stupid; the SNP's position is inherently dishonest. There is also the sheer hypocrisy of SNP members who argue for Trident submarines to be refitted at Rosyth. The SNP has no answers and takes no responsibility for the consequences of its actions. God forbid it, but if the SNP ever ended up in charge, 11,000 P45s would be issued to hard-working people in my area and to thousands more throughout Scotland. If the SNP was serious, it would rise to the challenge of considering alternatives, but it is not. |