Scottish independence could damage Britain’s relationship with America by “wrecking” the UK’s nuclear deterrent, Sir John Major warned today.
The former Prime Minister also stressed Britain’s security would be harmed by the nuclear deterrent submarine fleet being forced to move from its Scottish base if the UK splits up.
“One of the big implications of Scotland becoming separate would be the SNP’s threat to expel trident from Faslane that would in effect be the end of the serious British deterrent because you can’t just move those subs — they need proper ports,” Sir John told BBC radio. “You are talking of many, many years before they would have them, by which time Trident may not be as relevant as it is now, and that effects not just us. That affects every European country and NATO.
“How will the United States react when one of the only two countries with a credible military and nuclear capability suddenly has the nuclear capability effectively wrecked? This affects our security.”
Sir John also warned that Jean-Claude Juncker is the wrong man to become European Commission president. He conceded David Cameron may fail to stop federalist Mr Juncker from getting the top post but argued this could lead to the Prime Minister being offered concessions in his bid to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership.
Sir John said Mr Juncker had been a “very fine” prime minister of Luxembourg but said the EU needed a “really big political figure” to give it authority on the world stage. “I do not think he is the right candidate, but it is conceivable that Europe might elect the wrong candidate,” he added.“If that is so, the way Europe often works is, if it has done something that is not to the interest of a particular country, they often seek, both subliminally and publicly, to make that right in some other way.
“The question is, can we get a satisfactory negotiation, and my answer to that is categorically, ‘yes, we can’.”
Meanwhile, Nick Clegg is understood to be considering offering a referendum on EU membership next Parliament, without attaching the current condition that this should only happen if there is a further significant shift in powers.
Several ministers are pushing for the change in policy, arguing that a referendum is likely to take place anyhow so the party might as well reap political benefits from it. While senior Lib Dems can see the merits of supporting a referendum, they are wary that if they form a Coalition with Labour after the 2015 election, Britain could vote to leave the EU, with the Tory opposition leader advocating such a historic move.
