Emily Thornberry MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence

By email to: defencereview@labour.org.uk
Dear Emily
Consultation Response: Defence Policy Review
As the Scottish Labour candidate for Dumbarton Constituency, I wanted to take
this opportunity to express my support for the existing party policy in relation to
the renewal of the UKs nuclear deterrent. I have represented Dumbarton, which
includes HMNB Clyde at Faslane and the nuclear armaments depot at Coulport,
since the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999 and I believe that thousands of
jobs and the local economy in my constituency would be put at risk if Trident is
not renewed.
I have been consistent in my views during my sixteen years as an MSP. While I
respect the position of those who believe in unilateralist disarmament, I do not
believe that giving up our nuclear weapons alone would persuade other nations
to take action. History tells us that the only way we can hope to achieve a world
free of nuclear weapons is by negotiating them away with other countries. The
last Labour Government in the UK made significant progress in worldwide talks
towards Global Zero. As a direct result of the actions of Labour ministers, the
UKs air-borne nuclear weapons were dismantled and our nuclear capability has
been reduced by well over 50% since the end of the Cold War. This is a legacy I
believe we can build on.
It is also important that I, as the MSP for the constituency containing the Faslane
and Coulport bases, reflect on the impact for my local area. According to the
official MOD figures, 6,800 people are directly employed by the Royal Navy and
its contractors on the site. A further 4,500 jobs are dependent on the base
through the supply chain and the local economy. On top of that, the MOD expects
the directly employed workforce to rise by 2000 in the next few years when
Faslane becomes the sole base for the UKs whole submarine fleet. That equates
to over 13,000 jobs linked to the base in my constituency alone.
While I am primarily concerned with the jobs of my constituents, I also note the
concerns expressed by the GMB and others about the consequences for other
parts of the country too, including the docks at Rosyth, the Upper Clyde
shipyards, Rolls Royce in Derby, Plymouth Devonport and, of course, Barrow-inFurness . Gary Smith, Secretary of GMB Scotland, has estimated that 40,000
Scottish jobs could be put at risk if Trident was scrapped, along with many
thousands of jobs in the rest of the UK.
The workers on the ground at Faslane and Coulport know what the consequences
are for their jobs. The Convener of shop stewards told the Scottish Affairs

Committee that if the submarines are not there, there is no work for us. In other
words, if Trident is not there, there is no strategic reason for having a naval base
at Faslane. I know that a number of people and organisations within the labour
movement genuinely believe that defence diversification is the answer. However
I regularly meet with the workers at the base, most recently on 6 April 2016, to
hear their views and they tell me that they have absolutely no faith in the
potential for diversification to replace all current jobs. Some of the workers at
Faslane have described diversification as a utopian land of employment and
said that they may as well start applying for jobs in Brigadoon. This is also a view
seemingly echoed by Len McCluskey from Unite the Union who told local shop
stewards in an email that defence diversification has not worked in the past and
is unlikely to produce anything of note in the future. I note that Tony Blair
previously established a Defence Diversification Agency within the MOD and that
failed to provide answers for the workforce.
I hope that given the lack of guaranteed alternative employment for thousands
of workers in my constituency and across the UK, the Labour Party will continue
to support the renewal of Trident alongside a strong commitment to multilateral
negotiations.
Yours sincerely

Jackie Baillie
Encl.
Statement made on behalf of the Babcock Marine Clyde industrial shop stewards
committee at Faslane and Coulport
Email from Len McCluskey to local shop stewards at Faslane