Thursday, 13 December 2012

Trident tangle and CND conundrum

Malcolm Burns' Morning Star criticism of Scottish CND's decision to throw their lot somewhat naively in with independence, has provoked a wee tizzie in the letters page from John Cox, CND vice-president. accusing the paper of 'giving comfort to the warmongers'. Those of us who are suspicious of independence and the SNP, but also opposed to Trident, are a wee bit insulted at this intemperate language. It is often the kind of language that surfaces when people find themselves in a mess of their own making.

UNISON Scotland's position, along with the STUC, is that its approach to constitutional questions "is driven by the interests of our members, by the sort of Scotland we want and deserve to live in. This means that for us, precise constitutional arrangements are the end point and not the starting point of the debate. We must first define the sort of Scotland we wish to see and then try and then examine the likelihood of differing constitutional arrangements on offer to deliver on that vision." What with the SNP deciding to stay in NATO, you can't help but think that Scottish CND might have been better advised to take the same approach.

JS