The Scottish Question – Politically the question that cannot be asked but clearly some are taking the matter seriously and wondering what happens if we have an independent Scotland and thus Faslane can no longer remain the home of the British deterrent.     The media has reported that the Strategic TRIDENT submarines cannot be moved from Scotland to Devonport because they do not have safety clearances to dock there.     The MoD has also revealed that the safety arrangements for Devonport do not permit the presence of submarines carrying TRIDENT nuclear warheads.    As Devonport is at the centre of a densely populated area and the worst accident scenario envisaged by the MoD would kill up to 11,000 people in Plymouth so it is reported and would the go on to say “not meet the official criteria for what is acceptable” - which begs the question what is an acceptable number of people to be killed in a worst accident scenario.   A referendum on independence is due to be held in the autumn of 2014 – not long now!

Previously it has been assumed by both experts and politicians that the VANGUARDs with their TRIDENTs could relocate to Devonport.   There are series of other options that can be considered and this is no way is an exhaustive list :-

·         Devonport – there are dredgers that would solve the problem of water depth – the subject of warhead storage is a different matter however.

·         Barrow – impossible to configure as a submarine base

·         Portsmouth – as at Devonport the subject of warhead storage would be a problem.

·         Milford Haven – the is a deep water option and could become a suitable base – with all the natural gas installations/oil refineries etc there could be few environmental objections ? – but it begs the question of will there be a Welsh question at a future date ?

·         Gibraltar – this would be politically near impossible given our relationship with Spain

·         Falkland Islands – there must be a deep water option on these islands, far away, and could become a suitable base – there would be fewer environmental objections that elsewhere, but would change the political dynamic with the Argentine Government.

·         Kings Bay – The American option – at least for the short term – this is the U.S. Atlantic Fleet’s  Naval Submarine Base for its TRIDENT submarines located adjacent to the town of St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, (not far from Jacksonville).   The actual “”British” missiles (as opposed to the warheads) are already maintained at Kings Bay.

Maybe the answer is to separate the two key functions namely submarine basing and support and that of warhead arming.   The VANGUARDs could, it is imagined with some attention to detail could operate from successfully from Devonport but the taking onboard of weapon armed TRIDENT missiles is another thing all together.     Maybe the routine could become that British warheads would be stored with those of our American allies and our submarines on the commencement of a strategic patrol would sail from Devonport to Kings Bay to load the weapon package before the commencement of the actual patrol.   So all is not lost - it seems likely that when and if we as a nation have to address the subject of the Scottish question then it will be a mixture of any or all of the above!