AT THEIR party conference today, members of the Scottish National Party will be asked to support a U-turn on Nato membership in an independent Scotland.
The party has opposed the alliance for over 30 years as part of its opposition to the use and possession of nuclear weapons, but now party leader Alex Salmond has described the maintenance of both an anti-nuclear stance and Scotland’s place within the international body as “perfectly feasible.”
The policy altering vote will be called by SNP MP Angus Robertson whose resolution states: “On independence, Scotland will inherit its treaty obligations with Nato.
“An SNP government will maintain Nato membership subject to an agreement that Scotland will not host nuclear weapons and Nato continues to respect the right of members to only take part in UN sanctioned operations.”
This change in stance was first mooted in April 2012 and was to be resolved at the party’s June meeting of its National Council.
Although the decision was delayed until this month’s party conference, Mr Robertson said in June: “Our northern European neighbours all maintain appropriate military capabilities including fast jets, ocean-going vessels and highly trained personnel.
“There is no question Scotland could easily match those capabilities.”
Opposing the party’s shift in position are a number of SNP councillors and eight MSPs including Jamie Hepburn, Marco Biagi and Sandra White.
In protest, anti-Nato campaigners descended upon the party’s HQ earlier in the month, drawing chalk figures on the pavement outside which they said represented those that had died as a result of Nato’s operations around the world.
Alex Salmond told BBC Scotland: “The SNP, in my lifetime, has been pro-Nato, we’ve been anti-Nato, we’ve been in favour, as we are now, of Partnership for Peace, which is a Nato organisation, so that’s been an emphasis on the policy.
“But the underlying consistency is our opposition to nuclear weapons and the best way to remove Trident from Scotland.
“An independent Scotland would not have possession of or allow nuclear weapons in Scottish territory.
“Twenty-six out of the 29 countries in Nato are non-nuclear countries, it is perfectly feasible for Scotland to be one of these but still engage in collective defence for friends and allies.”
In a statement released through the Better Together campaign, former Nato Secretary General (1999-2004) Lord Robertson said: “Their membership of Nato is uncertain at best.
“On the one hand, the SNP say they will ‘inherit its treaty obligations with Nato’, and on the other they remain wedded to unilateralism and neutralism.”
He accused the party of wanting to “pick and mix with Nato’s rules.”