As Scottish Labour’s spokesperson for Democracy I opened the debate in the Scottish Parliament on trident for the Party.

I was pleased that the Scottish Government accepted my amendment calling for the protection on jobs and the setting up of a strong jobs diversification strategy. It is vital that if trident is not renewed that the jobs and skills within the sector are not lost.

You can watch the debate on the video below.

The amendment I moved was:

“recognises the number of workers in the British defence system in Scotland and throughout the UK whose employment is linked to Trident-related activities and that firm commitments must be made to the trade unions on the retention of defence workers’ jobs; believes that, in the event of the cancellation of Trident, the establishment of defence diversification agencies at Scottish and UK levels is essential to deliver a strong defence diversification strategy that provides workers with high quality employment through the retention of skills developed in the sector, while delivering a UK defence sector equipped to deal with the world and dangers that it possesses, and calls on the UK Government not to renew Trident.”

You can read the official report of my speech here.