Britain would be forced to scrap its independent nuclear deterrent as part of a deal to put Ed Miliband into Number 10, according to Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP leader confirmed her party would never vote to replace Trident and the issue was a ‘red line’ in coalition negotiations.
Sturgeon told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme Tuesday the general election was not about the referendum but how Scotland is governed. So opposition to Trident would be top of the agenda, in the place of independence.
She said: “The general election is not about independence, it’s about giving Scotland a louder voice in Westminster, making sure that Scotland’s interests are protected and that the issues that matter to us are up the agenda.
“We’re not going to get a referendum as a result of this Westminster election and that’s not one of the issues that we would be seeking to secure.”
Sturgeon continued: “Under no circumstance would we ever vote for the renewal of Trident or the spending of money on the renewal of Trident. In terms of any formal arrangement with Labour, I’ve made clear and I can’t make clearer, Trident is a red line.”
With the Conservatives and Labour neck-and-neck on around 32 percent of the vote, it is likely there will be another coalition after the election. So far the SNP have indicated they would work with Labour, so if Miliband wants to be Prime Minister he may have to scrap Trident.
Whilst scrapping Trident would horrify much of middle England it is likely to go down well with Labour’s core vote. A survey earlier this month showed two-thirds of Labour candidates in the general election are against Britain having a nuclear deterrent.
Andrew Rosindell, who is standing for re-election as Tory MP for Romford told Breitbart London: “This shows the danger separatists like the SNP pose to the future security of this country. First they tried to break up the UK, now they want to leave it undefended in an increasingly hostile world.
“They should have got the message when they lost the referendum. This country is sick of being bullied by the separatists.
“If Ed Miliband goes along with the SNP on this he’ll prove, once again, why he is wholly unworthy of being British Prime Minister.”
Concerns about the level of influence the SNP might exerpt after May led the Conservatives to run the following attack advert earlier this month:
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