Streeting condemns Swinney’s ‘irresponsible and unfounded’ comments on defence

John Swinney’s claim that Scotland is being left “defenceless” by the UK Government has been condemned as “irresponsible and unfounded” by the Defence Secretary.

Wes Streeting hit out at the SNP leader during a visit to Scotland on Friday, accusing the First Minister of “playing party politics with national defence and security”.

He then went on to claim that “one of the biggest risks” to the UK’s future security is the SNP’s “white flag policy of nuclear disarmament”.

The UK’s nuclear submarines are based at Faslane on the Clyde, but the SNP has a long-standing opposition to such weapons.

With growing concerns over possible Russian aggression, Mr Swinney has repeatedly raised concerns that the waters around the north of Scotland are being left exposed.

At the SNP conference earlier this month, he claimed: “In this uncertain world, what is certain is that the UK is failing to keep Scotland secure.”

He insisted the changing nature of modern warfare – where cyber attacks and drones are used – means nuclear weapons are “obsolete”.

He said that while “the UK has the means to kill millions of people in minutes”, he claimed: “Scotland’s vast coastline is left dangerously exposed.”

The First Minister repeated his warnings on Thursday, telling MSPs at Holyrood: “I think that our country is being left defenceless by the appalling approach to defence taken by the UK Government.”

Mr Streeting however said the deployment of the aircraft carrier the HMS Prince of Wales as part of a Nato operation in the North Atlantic is “very visible proof that what the First Minister said is both irresponsible and unfounded”.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to the BAE Systems shipyard in Scotstoun, Glasgow, the Defence Secretary said: “I don’t think the SNP should be playing party politics with national defence and security, we would much rather work with them.

“In terms of the risk of leaving the UK with insufficient defence, one of the biggest risks facing that security is the SNP’s position on unilateral nuclear disarmament.

“It is by far and away the most important deterrent that we have and it is not just the UK’s deterrent, it is Nato’s deterrent.

“So any time the SNP says that a separate Scotland could be a Nato member, they have to first explain how their white flag policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament would work under a nuclear alliance.”

Mr Streeting said he does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin “would be foolish enough to seek a direct war with Nato today”, but added: “What I can’t be certain of is at some point in the future he might not try, and that is Nato’s threat assessment.”

He said this is why the UK Government is “building our capability, building our defence industry, including here in Scotland, and building our alliances, so that we are strong and therefore able to deter any potential Russian threat”.

He told how the Labour Government is “delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war”, with plans to take defence spending up to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 included in Chancellor John Healey’s Budget this week.

Mr Streeting said such investment is being made “because we can see in Ukraine that the nature of warfare is changing, the nature of the threat is rising, so we can’t afford to stand still”.

He insisted: “The people of Scotland and people right across the United Kingdom can draw comfort and security in the knowledge that we have some extraordinary capability at our disposal across our Armed Forces, as well as our special forces, and the protection of the Nato alliance.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.