ANDREW Marr has been accused of showing a “disappointing lack of awareness” of Trident’s unpopularity after claiming opposition to nuclear war could damage the SNP and undermine the case for indyref2.
He was accused of attempting to make a “safety in Britain” argument over a piece in the New Statesman in which he argued the war in Ukraine may turn voters off independence and the SNP.
The former BBC journalist said both the party’s anti-nuclear stance and its historical opposition to Nato - a position changed ten years ago - could make it harder to convince voters to back Yes while Russia is at war in Europe.
Marr, now the political editor of the New Statesman, wrote a feature in the magazine which questions whether a second independence referendum will happen according to Nicola Sturgeon’s timetable.
And he claimed the SNP might welcome a court defeat on whether the Scottish Government could hold a referendum, claiming: “It would be a rhetorical win against bully-boy London for nationalism, at a time when winning the referendum itself would be hard.”
The SNP only reversed its hostile Nato position in 2012, Marr noted and argued independence could reopen the debate, given the Scottish Greens opposition to the organisation.
He wrote: “It isn’t a big surprise that, at a time when a nuclear-armed Russia has launched a territorial war of conquest in Europe and is openly threatening the West with its latest generation of nuclear weapons, these are not the first issues the SNP wants to discuss.
“Indeed, Trident could be the issue that makes winning an independence referendum next year impossible.”
He argued defence would “bleed into every other aspect of independence politics” and claimed the UK Government could use the SNP’s opposition to Trident as grounds to refuse a second vote.
But his claims were rubbished by veteran anti-bomb campaigner and SNP MSP Bill Kidd (below) who said: “The SNP has always had, and continues to have nuclear disarmament to the fore of policy statements and would never hide this fact.”
He told The National: “It’s disappointing, though not at all surprising, that Andrew Marr should show a lack of awareness of how unpopular Trident being based only 30 miles from Glasgow continues to be.
“The fact that Russia is threatening to flex its nuclear muscles should be a matter of concern for us all, but it surely doesn’t make anybody wish to have a target painted on their back in the way that Faslane/Coulport does with us.
“Mr Marr is running scared of IndyRef2 and desperately conjuring up a ‘safety in Britain’ argument. Nuclear weapons make the world a more dangerous place, no matter who has them.”
While Marr said the First Minister had told him it would be “absurd and outrageous” for the question of whether Scottish ministers could hold a referendum to end up in court, he asked: “Would it not now quite suit the SNP to be prevented by un-elected judges from allowing Scotland to vote on national self-determination?”
Marr went on to claim that losing another independence referendum could prove fatal for the Scottish nationalist movement, pointing to the example of Canada’s Parti Québécois.
He added: “The SNP would not suddenly vanish or lose its appeal. But it would lose its vivifying melodrama, its Braveheart chops.”
Marr ended his 16-year career at the BBC in March and now hosts a talk show on LBC as well as his work at the New Statesman.
