Defence

Question 1

What was the slogan of the SNP at the 2016 Scottish elections?

Answer 1

“Bairns, not bombs”

Question 2

What dos the slogan: “Bairns, not bombs” mean?

Answer 2

This was used to advocate for the removal of nuclear weapons which are being held in Faslane, Helensburgh.

Those weapons were being held in Scotland against the will of the SNP.

Question 3

Why is “Bairns, not bombs” argued to be an ineffective slogan?

Answer 3

— Defence is a reserved power

— Trident is under the power of Westminster because of this

— Scotland has no control over Trident as that power remains in London

— This makes it a false promise to the Scottish people as they are unable to remove it without permission of the central govt. in London

Question 4

Why is mothballing the parliament better with regards to the nuclear weapons programme?

Answer 4

Through mothballing the govt, we can directly ask Westminster to remove these weapons from Scotland without any intermediary or complicated legal process.

Question 5

Potential POI: ”Why can’t we just ask Westminster ti get rid of our nuclear weapons through the Scottish parliament?

Answer 5

— Westminster has a long history of not listening to us

— For example, when the SNP wanted an independence referendum, they rejected it.

— When the majority of Scots wanted to stay in the EU, we ended up leaving anyway.

— So why complicate the process and keep the Scottish parliament in the loop?

Question 6

Potential POI: ”Trident could be used as a deterrent for other countries looking to invade the UK.”

Answer 6

— No country has ever invaded the UK since WWII

— Even then, Nazi Germany failed to do so

— So why be worried?

— No-one wants to use nuclear weapons anyway because they affect many innocent people as seen with Hiroshima and Nagasaki

— So they are empty threats and a waste of money and space, which can be re-invested:into Scotland through a central govt. in Westminster.

Question 7

Explain how the Scottish Parliament is ineffective with regards to the Iraq War.

Answer 7

— PM Tony Blair decided to go to war in Iraq

— Which was based on a lie that they had weapons of mass destruction

— Resulted in the killing of 940,000 innocent people.

— This was deeply unpopular in Scotland but the govt couldn’t do anything about it, because defence is a reserved power.

— Shows how the parliament can’t carry out the wishes of their citizens or ease the suffering of people across the world.