The SNP's "separatist" vision of an independent Scotland without Trident would not only threaten the UK's security but destroy thousands of jobs, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said.

He insisted the UK's fleet of nuclear submarines, based at Faslane on the Clyde, is "as crucial today as it has ever been".

He accused nationalists of making "false promises" that Scotland would be safer if the submarines were no longer based north of the border.

Addressing Conservatives in Glasgow, Sir Michael insisted Scotland would "continue to be home to our independent nuclear deterrent" and he would not "gamble" with the UK's security by abandoning it.

Sir Michael said: "To those who say we will never use it, I say we use it every day to deter those who would wish us harm.

"To abandon this guarantee, we would have to be certain that no extreme threats would emerge through the 2030s, the 2040s and the 2050s.

"I am not prepared to take that gamble with our security."

He said that when the House of Commons had voted on the renewal of Trident, "every single SNP MP voted to unilaterally abandon our nuclear deterrent".

Sir Michael told the Scottish Conservative conference: "That would endanger the security of our United Kingdom.

"And with Jeremy Corbyn leading dozens of Labour MPs to vote against renewal too, this is not a hypothetical danger.

"That's why our resolve must never waver. We cannot allow Labour and the SNP to do any kind of deal that bargains away our security.

"The SNP's ideological opposition to our deterrent would not just weaken our defence.

"It would destroy thousands of highly skilled Scottish jobs as well.

"No ultimate deterrent, fewer jobs, weaker defence - that's the separatist vision for Scotland."

He hit out at the Scottish Government over its "false promises" that an independent Scotland "would be safer, that jobs and investment in the defence industry would continue, that abandoning our nuclear deterrent would protect us".

With an "arc of instability spreading across the globe", he argued the Union between Scotland and the rest of the UK matters "more than ever".

Sir Michael highlighted the dangers posed by a "resurgent Russia, North Korea illegally testing nuclear weapons" and "Daesh terrorism on the streets of Europe".

He added: "We must face these threats together, with every nation in the United Kingdom playing its part."