Committee asks Scottish Government for formal response to Trident Report

Terminating Trident—Days or Decades

 Chair of the Committee Ian Davidson MP wrote:

I am writing on behalf of the Scottish Affairs Committee to invite the Scottish Government to formally respond to the Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2012-13, The Referendum on Separation for Scotland: Terminating Trident—Days or Decades?, published on 25 October 2012.

As you may know, the United Kingdom Government would normally respond to reports from select committees of the House of Commons within two months of the Report’s publication, and we fully expect the UK Government to respond to this Report. While the Scottish Government is not obliged to respond, we believe that a formal response from the Scottish Government would be a valuable contribution to the referendum debate and would be welcomed by the people of Scotland.

In particular, the Committee requests your response as to whether or not you accept the view, endorsed by this Committee, first put forward by CND Scotland, that Trident warheads could be deactivated in a matter of days and removed safely from Scotland within twenty-four months, and whether you believe that this timetable would constitute the speediest safe transition of nuclear weapons from Scotland.

The Committee will be publishing further reports in the lead up to the referendum. We hope that we can maintain a constructive dialogue with the Scottish Government around the issues raised in any future reports, so that the people of Scotland are better able to make an informed decision on the future of Scotland.

I look forward to your response.

Further information 

• The Referendum on Separation for Scotland: Terminating Trident-Days or Decades?
• The Referendum on Separation for Scotland: inquiry page
• Scottish Affairs Committee homepage