Blackford signals scrapping Trident could be part of SNP 'wish-list' for supporting Corbyn Govt

Questioned about whether the issue of Trident would stop the SNP holding negotiations with another political party in the case of a hung parliament, Mr Blackford said the SNP had been "pretty consistent" that they did “not wish to see nuclear weapons" on Scottish soil.

He explained how his party would "come up with a wish-list" of policies they would want to secure for a potential confidence and supply deal with a future UK Government.

Asked on Sky News's Sophy Ridge on Sunday if scrapping Trident remained a "red line" for the SNP, the party leader replied: “Well, look, we will come up with a wish-list of things that we want to see."

He went on: "We're been pretty consistent down through the decades that we don't wish to see nuclear weapons on our soil. We want to make sure of course that we take our responsibilities for defence seriously and it's important to say that today of all days when we've got Remembrance Sunday to look forward to.

"But we don't believe that we should be investing in those weapons of mass destruction," he added.

The SNP's parliamentary candidate for Ross, Skye and Lochaber described Britain’s nuclear arsenal as “not fit for purpose," explaining: “The simple fact of the matter is I'm not sure that we're taking our responsibilities for conventional defences as seriously as we should be doing and to waste up to £200 billion on these weapons of mass destruction that can never be used is a fallacy."

During campaigning last week, Nicola Sturgeon made clear she wanted nuclear weapons removed from Scotland “as soon as it is safely possible”.

The First Minister explained: “When we're talking about nuclear weapons, safety has to be the primary consideration but the SNP is implacably opposed to nuclear weapons.”

However, she made clear if the Nationalists held the balance of power after December 12, then they would want to see Trident go as quickly as possible.

During the 2014 referendum campaign, SNP high command made clear independence would result in the nuclear submarines being moved south of the border.

However, Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, warned that a Labour-SNP tie-up after the election would put Britain’s security at risk.

He argued that a “Marxist-Nationalist alliance puts at risk Scotland and the UK’s security in a changing and dangerous world,” pointing out how Russia had adopted an “aggressive posture” in eastern Europe and its submarines were operating in the North Atlantic.

He added: “As ever, the SNP want to have their cake and eat it; they want the jobs and the base at Faslane but not the submarines.”

Jackie Baillie, the Labour MSP for Dumbarton, warned that if the SNP got their way in any post-election deal, then it would put 15,000 local jobs at risk.

“The SNP has no thought for the jobs that are there and how we would replace them,” she declared.

“Politicians need to be responsible for their actions. If Nicola Sturgeon wants to remove nuclear-armed submarines from Faslane, she needs to explain how she would replace the jobs that are there,” added Ms Baillie.

Gary Cook, the GMB Scotland organiser, who chairs the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, said: “Against the backdrop of a ruinous Brexit, we are in no position to play fast and loose with thousands of decent jobs or with the prosperity of the working-class communities supported by the defence sector.

“Politicians can have their principles but they must also accept that those principles have consequences for real jobs,” he added.

Paul Masterton, the Conservative candidate for East Renfrewshire, noted: “Not content with Indyref 2, Sturgeon is laying out her terms for an SNP deal with Labour.

“It doesn't matter to Labour that the SNP's policy on Trident would significantly undermine national security and cost Scots thousands of jobs. The simple fact is, vote Labour, get SNP,” he added.

Although Jeremy Corbyn is well-known as being personally opposed to Britain retaining nuclear weapons and Scottish Labour has come out against Trident, the UK Labour Party backs the policy and included support for renewing the nuclear arsenal in its last manifesto.

Asked on the Marr Show, given the emphasis on cyber warfare, whether Trident belonged to a previous era, General Sir Nicolas Carter, Chief of the Defence Staff, said: “Of course, the challenge is it’s very difficult to predict the future and of course a programme like Trident is one that’s a 40 to 50-year programme and if you choose not to do something like that now it would be impossible to get back into it.

“And who can tell what the world will look like in 2035? So it’s an insurance policy,” he added.

Earlier in the Sky News interview, Mr Blackford was pushed on whether the SNP would form a coalition pact with Labour after Mr Corbyn said he would not grant a second Scottish independence referendum "in the early years" of his leadership.

He argued that Holyrood would “not be stopped by Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn or anyone else” from deciding on whether or not to stage another vote on Scotland’s future.

He declared: “Westminster has to recognise it’s our right to choose and nobody but nobody should stand in the way of the Scottish people expressing their desire to have a referendum on independence.”