The SNP’s latest pantomime proposal, An independent Scotland’s place in the world, zeroes in on the party’s aspiration for Scotland to one day join the thieves’ kitchen that is NATO.
In effect, this is a pledge of loyalty to US imperialism. But in pursuing this path, the SNP leaders are either tying themselves in knots, or are preparing for a huge U-turn over their long-held opposition to nuclear weapons.
Disarmament
For decades, the SNP has promised and campaigned to dismantle Trident, Britain’s nuclear arsenal, which is based north of the border, in Faslane. And they have suggested that Scotland should be a leading voice for global nuclear disarmament.
Yet pivoting towards NATO membership necessarily means making a complete one-eighty-degree turn on all of this.
After all, it is impossible that NATO – a nuclear-armed military alliance of the world’s most rabid warmongers, led by the only country to ever deploy weapons of mass destruction in war (twice!) – would welcome a new member state that is committed to unilateral disarmament.
SNP foreign affairs spokesman Angus Robertson has therefore caused an upset by suggesting that an independent Scotland would not sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), despite this being SNP policy.
With these comments, Robertson has been accused by others in the party of “overstepping his remit”. But his remarks are entirely logical: NATO will not admit any country that has signed the TPNW.
Independence
Ignoring these contradictions, the SNP’s recent report confidently states that nuclear disarmament poses no barrier to a future independent Scotland’s NATO membership. Only three of the alliance’s 31 members (the USA, UK, and France), the document notes, possess nuclear weapons.
This omits a crucial fact: that Faslane is Britain’s only naval base capable of sustaining a nuclear-armed submarine patrol around the British Isles and the North Sea. It is therefore militarily indispensable to the UK’s nuclear capabilities, and is essential to NATO’s collective nuclear defence strategy.
Britain and NATO would never allow Faslane to be unilaterally shut down, whether an independent Scotland wishes to do this or not.
The SNP would therefore almost certainly have to betray its anti-Trident promises – for example, by allowing a nuclear Guantanamo Bay to be carved out on the mouth of the Clyde – as a condition of NATO membership.
Defence
The SNP have also committed to bolstering Scotland’s naval defence capabilities, to “protect the nation” and “enhance the security of Northern Europe” against “incoming Russian vessels”.
This is a blatant appeal to the interests of western imperialism, in the context of seeking behind-the-scenes support for Scottish independence; a reassurance to the capitalists that Scotland would still belong to them.
Amid this mockery, the SNP’s report also pledges that Scotland would fulfil NATO’s requirement of allocating more than 2% of GDP to defence spending.
This means effectively pouring over £4 billion of public funds into the coffers of major arms manufacturers – a prospect that the SNP seemingly salivates over, as it looks to jettison the popular pro-independence slogan of ‘Bairns Not Bombs’.
Future
The bellicose language employed by Humza Yousaf and his cohort of inept compradors marks an absolute decline for the SNP – a party once known for its anti-war stance.
The SNP actually reversed its opposition to NATO back in 2012, causing only a minor split. Now there can be no doubt that it is a pro-imperialist party.
As long as the capitalists remain in charge, imperialist war, instability, and deteriorating living standards will persist.
Workers and youth must therefore forge a new path: eradicating the world of the parasitic ruling class and its lackeys, and striving for a communist future.
If you share this vision, join the RCP today!
