SNP MP calls for party to avoid 'reflex' to oppose Tories on defence

In his first major public intervention since stepping down from the frontbench role this month, he wrote in an article published today: "As a party of government that seeks Scottish statehood, we must always be an engaged, confident, and relevant voice in the Euro-Atlantic security debate. 

"That means challenging ourselves, appreciating the nuances of world affairs and shunning the all-too-tempting reflex to side against the UK Government. The world is more complex than that, as this year has shown."

READ MORE: 'Scotland will have to keep Trident for 10 years to join Nato as a new state'

He also suggested it was harder for someone covering the defence brief for the SNP to discuss independence as colleagues with the welfare or health briefs.

The claim may raise eyebrows among some given one of the party's longstanding arguments for independence is that it would allow an Scotland to remove nuclear weapons from the Clyde. 

"Defence spokesperson is a peculiar job for an SNP MP. Even the most industrious nationalist would struggle to talk about Scottish independence as often as their counterparts beavering away on health or welfare policy and sometimes, like the months following the Ukraine invasion, I found myself working constructively with the government I was sent to Westminster to oppose. That doesn’t happen in many portfolios," wrote Mr McDonald MP for Glasgow South.

"It’s also a unique brief for an SNP MP in that there is no immediately obvious counterpart in the Scottish Government.

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"There is a Scottish Government minister working on veterans and one working on Ukraine but given that it’s a policy area theoretically reserved to the UK Government, there is no full-time defence minister."

In the article in the Scotsman he argued that national governments are realising they need to work across borders to address common defence challenges.

He wrote: "More and more democratic governments are realising that the broad and dynamic spectrum of threats that open societies face today cannot be the preserve of national governments, however one wishes to define them. A whole-of-society approach to security is a fast-growing norm amongst Nato countries and, in a UK context, that surely means a greater role for the Scottish Government and others."

He added: "In 2021, I outlined the threat that foreign disinformation poses in Scotland and offered some solutions for tackling it. Only one policy proposal was directed at the UK Government.

"The rest were to the Scottish Government and Scottish society more broadly – and all fell within the current devolution settlement. 

READ MORE: SNP MP Stewart McDonald sacked from key Commons committee

"When we have a UK Government that can barely be trusted to keep the lights on, it’s surely obvious that defence, security, and resilience policy should be hardwired across public and private spheres.

"One of the most rewarding parts of the role of defence spokesperson in Westminster is the chance to grapple with issues like this, but it also presents its challenges. 

"There are other more sensitive issues, like the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, allegations of illegal extrajudicial killings by members of the UK Special Forces, and the abhorrent misogyny experienced by women in the UK Armed Forces, that matter deeply to people across Scotland – regardless of their feelings on the constitutional question.

"Responding to the questions raised by these issues as SNP defence spokesperson sometimes felt like being a member of a modern-day Lewis and Clarke Expedition, ploughing through new territory and opening new ground for the party.

"The brief leaves no shortage of opportunities to move out of your political comfort zone.

"As a party which has grown up intertwined with the anti-nuclear movement, SNP debates on defence have historically been marked by an almost monomaniacal focus on Trident.

"I’m glad that flame still burns within my party – but I’m also proud to have taken the party into other realms of the European defence debate, illustrated at a standing-room-only event on European security at our recent conference.

"Indeed, even our youth wing, well known for its previous opposition to all things military, recently changed its policy to back Nato membership for an independent Scotland. It’s a small change but a notable one.

"Whilst the party voted for a pro-alliance policy ten years ago, we never really took the time to flesh out what Scotland in Nato meant. I spent my time trying to change that by engaging experts across the Euro-Atlantic defence community."

He continued: "As a party of government that seeks Scottish statehood, we must always be an engaged, confident, and relevant voice in the Euro-Atlantic security debate. That means challenging ourselves, appreciating the nuances of world affairs and shunning the all-too-tempting reflex to side against the UK Government. The world is more complex than that, as this year has shown."

Mr McDonald, who supported Mr Flynn's rival Alison Thewliss in the SNP's Westminster leadership contest, stood down from his role as the party's defence spokesman following Mr Flynn's victory and was succeeded in the role by Dave Doogan.

He was later sacked as the SNP's representative on the Common's foreign affairs committee and replaced by Drew Hendry.

Announcing his removal from the committee, Mr McDonald said he had hoped to remain on the committee despite the changes in roles in the group.

It is not known when the Scottish Government's updated prospectus on defence in an independent Scotland will be published.

The party could be under increasing pressure to keep Trident for a period of some years at least if it wants to become a member of Nato.

During a speech in Washington DC in May First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine had cemented her belief Scotland should join Nato after becoming independent.

But some experts have warned Nato could block the new state's application if it vowed to get rid of Trident without an new location being identified for the submarines and their nuclear missiles.

Leading defence expert Professor Malcolm Chalmers said in May that an independent Scotland would have to accept keeping Trident for more than ten years if it wanted to join Nato.

Professor Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said if the Scottish Government pressed ahead with removing nuclear weapons according to the SNP’s current timetable of five years after a Yes vote the UK would veto Scotland’s Nato membership.