Solo Scotland can’t have our Armed Forces, warns Fox
Liam Fox with Lossiemouth’s commander, Group Captain Andy Hine, yesterday
Andrew Milligan/PA
- Liam Fox with Lossiemouth’s commander, Group Captain Andy Hine, yesterday Andrew Milligan/PA
Liam Fox warned yesterday that the SNP’s plans for independence would jeopardise the expanded military “footprint” announced for Scotland earlier this week.
The Defence Secretary was speaking during a visit to RAF Lossiemouth, which was saved from the threat of closure earlier this week. Although Leuchars, in Fife, will close as part of the bases review, the UK Government has announced that it will double the size of the Army north of the Border.
Asked about the SNP’s plans for independence, Mr Fox said: “If we were not to have a Union I could not guarantee what the military footprint would be here. Our Armed Forces are for the Crown around the UK. We could not guarantee what that footprint would be should the Union break up.”
Under a shake-up of defence services, announced on Monday, the size of the Army in Scotland will increase from about 3,500 to 8,500. One of five multi-role brigades will be centred on RAF Kirknewton, a former airfield southwest of Edinburgh. Two major units and a formation headquarters will be based at Leuchars. The Defence Secretary also used his visit to give an assurance that there would be no gap in the changeover at Leuchars from being an RAF base to an army barracks for about 1,500 troops. He said that strenuous efforts would be made to speed up the process of reopening RAF Kinloss as another Scottish army base.
“Overall, Scotland has a net gain of 2,500 posts. That dramatically increases the defence footprint in Scotland. Scotland has come out as a very handsome winner from the changes we have made. It is a very good result for this area and for Scotland as a whole,” he said.
The Defence Secretary’s warnings about the loss of defence jobs if Scotland voted to become independent came as Sir Mike Jackson, the Army’s former Chief of General Staff, rejected the SNP’s plans for sharing military services.
Sir Mike claimed that soldiers could have only one “political master” and he suggested that any Scottish army would have to be started from scratch. “You cannot have two nation states and two political masters,” he said.
On the future of the country’s existing defence jobs, he said: “The British Government could argue he [the First Minister, Alex Salmond] is not entitled to any troops as they are all sworn into the British Army.”
Scottish Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Ann McKechin, MP, claimed that the SNP’s plans for independence posed a greater threat to the country than the coalition’s defence review.
She said: “The idea that Scotland can break away from the United Kingdom but keep all the Army, Navy and RAF establishments, personnel and equipment is ludicrous. It won’t fool anyone. It is little wonder the SNP’s cloud cuckoo land plans have been rubbished by top UK Armed Forces chiefs.
“It’s time the SNP stopped misleading the Scottish public and came clean on what exactly their plans are for defence in a separated Scotland.”
Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader and defence spokesman, said: “The SNP is standing up for Scotland to have the optimal conventional defence footprint. Sadly the UK Government is slashing the number of RAF personnel in Scotland by more than 50 per cent, is withdrawing the Royal Marines from Scotland almost entirely and is closing a series of military facilities.”
John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, will visit RAF Leuchars today to discuss the impact of the loss of the base as an RAF facility.
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