THE SNP AND NATO
According to my postbag many SNP members are uneasy at the suggestion that a post independence Scotland should be a member of Nato. I myself am against it.
However there are many in the country who favour it, albeit without the submarines on the Clyde and the stored bombs in Glen Douglas. All these must go.
By throwing Nato membership open to debate the SNP have shown that they are truly attempting to speak for all Scotland. The matter will not be decided until after the general election in 2015. An informed debate this year will be an opener for a prolonged discussion. This is an act of political responsibility.
Moreover it is an astute political move. Those who bother are either fervently for or equally strongly against. This conference will take the headlines of the UK press. The reshuffle of the cabinet, the Scottish cabinet, leads today’s Telegraph (6/09/12) and not in an entirely hostile fashion either. NATO and the SNP will dominate political discussion
Whichever side wins the Nato debate it is a winner for the SNP.
September 30th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Good to see you returning to the fray, Ian!
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”
Dr Seuss
The leaving of NATO is something that I approve of but is not in itself a “”make or break” issue for me although the retention of nuclear weapons would be unacceptable. Several countries with such an attitude to WMDs are members of, or are associated with, NATO.
I note that there is soon to be a NATO naval exercise around the coast of Scotland and among the countries participating with surface ships are Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Estonia. I find it difficult to understand how small and unimportant small independent countries can afford a naval presence as I am assured that this would not be an option for Scotland!
It is unusual now for parties to have open and honest debate about policy matters and it is to the credit of the SNP that they have initiated one on this.
I doubt very much that the SNP will cease to exist when independence is secured as suggested by Hamish. While independence is certainly the principal aim of the SNP it carries a great deal of social policy that is not replicated in any other party presently in place. It may change its title but I am sure that it will continue.