Latest news

SNP demand public inquiry into nuclear submarine decommissioning

The SNP has called for a public inquiry into the nuclear decommissioning of submarines, after it was revealed that the UK government has failed to properly dispose of single Nuclear-powered submarine.

A report from the National Audit Office, published today, investigated submarine defueling and dismantling, detailing the stark costs of decommissioning - with storage of old nuclear submarines costing the taxpayer a shocking £500m alone.

SNP Defence spokesperson Stewart McDonald has called on UK government Ministers to be held to account and face up to the consequences of their actions.

Commenting, Stewart McDonald MP said:

“This is a scandal of epic proportions. Eye watering sums of money are being wasted by the Ministry of Defence and it is time that those responsible – ministers and officials of the current and previous governments – are called to answer how this sorry situation has been arrived at.

“A public inquiry would allow for the proper scrutiny that the public would expect. The wasting of hundreds of millions of pounds cannot simply be written off. It is vital that the authors of this mess explain themselves. The public have a right to know what advice was being given, how sound was that advice and where was sound advice being ignored by ministers?

“Carrying on with submarine renewal whilst this hangs over the Ministry of Defence is wholly unacceptable.

“People in communities like Rosyth will be living with the consequences of the UK’s nuclear folly for years to come.

“20 submarines are currently rotting on our coasts with a £7.5 billion pound price tag to maintain and then dispose of them. Ministers, past and present, along with officials who advised them on this disastrous course of action, must be held to account.

“The through life cost of the new generation of Trident submarines has been put at more than £200 billion, but we can see from the NAO report that there is a further environmental cost to be borne long after the last Dreadnought-class sub will have come back from its final patrol.

“Quite simply, renewing the Trident fleet with this knowledge is an act of monumental folly. The public will expect us to get to the bottom of this sorry saga and that requires a public inquiry and the halting of the nuclear renewal programme’.