Osborne: Corbyn and SNP would ‘throw away’ Trident

The chancellor said the investment package was “partly to ready Faslane for Trident’s replacement” – prompting accusations that he was pre-empting a vote on the future of nuclear weapons in Scotland.

Mr Osborne said the existing 6,700 military and civilian jobs at the base would be safeguarded and the workforce would grow to around 8,200 by 2022 thanks to a new ten-year work programme due to begin in 2017.

The changes will mean the whole of the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet will be based at HM Naval Base Clyde, home to the Trident nuclear deterrent.

Faslane, about 40 miles from Glasgow, is home to missile-carrying Vanguard submarines and recently welcomed the third of seven planned Royal Navy Astute class attack submarines.

The Successor class of submarine is also expected to be based on the Clyde when it comes into service from 2028, with crews and engineers potentially calling Faslane home until at least 2067.

Mr Osborne said today’s commitment would help to secure the jobs of the 12,600 people across Scotland and provide “huge opportunities” for defence, security and technology companies all over the UK.

He attacked what he called an “alliance” between Scottish nationalists and people on the left of the Labour party who want to scrap Trident.

Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP who is the current favourite to become the party’s next leader, has already vowed to do away with nuclear weapons. The SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens are also against the renewal of the Trident system.

There has always be a consensus among the mainstream political parties that that’s the right step to take. Now you’ve got this alliance of Labour left wingers and the nationalists who want to break that consensus. George Osborne

The chancellor said: “Economic security and national security go hand in hand and because our economic plan is working, we are able to invest hundreds of millions of pounds more and create more jobs here at Faslane to keep our country safe. There are some who would throw that away.

“We are committed to replacing Britain’s nuclear deterrent, because these submarines represent our ultimate insurance policy and we want to make a decision now to keep our country safe into the 2030s, the 2050s, the 2060s, a long time hence.

“In a dangerous and uncertain world, we’ve got to take those steps. There has always be a consensus among the mainstream political parties that that’s the right step to take.

“Now you’ve got this alliance of Labour left-wingers and the nationalists who want to break that consensus.

“I don’t think that’s the sensible step to take. I don’t think that’s the right way to keep our country secure and safe in the future.”

George Osborne has his priorities all wrong. He should be defending the disabled, not his government’s indefensible decision to spend £100bn on a new generation of nuclear weapons. Brendan O’Hara

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon says George Osborne’s plan to invest £500 million in the Faslane submarine base is “arrogant”. She criticised him for pre-empting a vote on the future of nuclear weapons in Scotland.

Nicola #Sturgeon criticises George #Osborne‘s “arrogant” £500m investment in the #Faslane submarine base.
https://t.co/o72RsBYnfo

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) August 31, 2015

The SNP’s Westminster defence spokesman Brendan O’Hara said: “George Osborne has his priorities all wrong.

“He should be defending the disabled, not his government’s indefensible decision to spend £100bn on a new generation of nuclear weapons – and this so-called investment in Faslane will directly support the deployment of Trident submarines.

“George Osborne is essentially pre-empting a vote and actual decision on renewal of Trident.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with Westminster’s values and priorities if the Chancellor thinks wasting billions on nuclear weapons is something to boast about when people are dying within our benefits system.

“Investment in Faslane is welcome – but it must be as a conventional base – and not more money spent on weapons of mass destruction.”

John Ainslie, coordinator of Scottish CND, said: “We should beware of George Osborne bearing gifts. If you look underneath the wrapping, you will see that his real present for Scotland is more nuclear submarines.

“He is cutting benefits for the most vulnerable in our society and making the poor pay for more weapons of mass destruction”.