Moray Bases Guarantee Repeated
Posted on Thursday, January 18 2007
“SNP slams scaremongering by Labour Minister who cut Moray jobs”The Scottish National Party (SNP) has reiterated its policy of retaining military facilities in Scotland including the airbases in Moray.The pledge comes after a ‘flawed report’ was published predicting the closure of facilities, and was heavily promoted by Labour Ministers who have been slammed for fostering uncertainty about the future of jobs in Moray.Local MP and SNP Defence Spokesman Angus Robertson said that“With only months to go until the Scottish Elections the Labour Party is resorting to the lowest tactics of smears and fears in the face of a successful and positive SNP campaign”.“This flawed report is another ‘dodgy dossier’ full of basic errors and shouldn’t fool anybody. The SNP has a proud record fighting for the Moray airbases, the retention of Scotland’s infantry regiments and the need for conventional naval capacity at Faslane rather than Trident nuclear weapons. “In contrast Labour has cut nearly 5000 defence posts in Scotland, closed facilities and amalgamated and disbanded our historic regiments.The paper circulated by the Labour Party contains a series of serious mistakes and omissions, which include:* assuming that Scotland's population is 5-6% of the UK when it is in fact 8.5%* assuming that the tax take in Scotland is 4-7% of the UK total when, even according to GERS, it is 9.3% (including oil)* assuming Scotland's GDP is £76 billion when it is in fact it is £120 billion (including oil)* claiming an independent Scotland would spend less than £2.5 billion on defence when the GERS document for 04/05, shows we already spent £2.5 billion on defence - significantly more than other small countries like Norway, Denmark and Ireland* taking no account of the cost of Trident in monetary or asset termsMr Robertson, who has also called on Adam Ingram to make a public apology for the loss of 4,700 Scottish defence jobs since 1997, said:"It is a sign of desperation and double standards by Labour when it sends a Minister responsible for 4,700 job losses to scaremonger about the SNP.“Moray service personnel will remember Adam Ingram for not travelling in good time to RAF Kinloss to explain to hundreds of skilled staff why their jobs were being cut."Instead of indulging in another episode in Labour's negative campaign he should be apologising to Scots for trying to mislead them and the families of those Scottish defence workers who have lost their jobs since Labour took power."Scotland needs its own successful defence and security policy rather than London Labour's record of job cuts, base closures, waste on Trident and dodgy dossiers. Only an SNP government will give the people the choice to decide Scotland's own defence priorities."ENDS
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