This article is part of a series within UK politics on the |
Politics of Scotland |
---|
Category · Scotland portal |
The NATO debate in the Scottish National Party refers to a historical argument within the Scottish National Party (SNP) as to whether or not an independent Scotland should be a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The party was opposed to NATO membership from the 1980s until its 2012 conference. [1]
Members of the SNP have long been divided on the party's long-standing opposition to NATO membership, which began in the early 1980s. Gordon Wilson tried to persuade the party to adopt a pro-NATO stance in 1983, [2] but failed. [3]
The first signs of a policy change appeared in April 2012, when it emerged the party's policy-making national council would be considering their position at its June meeting. [3] A University of Strathclyde poll carried out in May found that 52% of SNP members surveyed wanted to remain in NATO, [4] and it was reported in June that the SNP leadership had decided to change their position following talks with Denmark and Norway, which are full NATO members. [5]
Afterwards, two SNP MPs — Angus Robertson and Angus MacNeil — sought to formalise this position by submitting a motion to the SNP conference in October 2012 which included the line: "An SNP Government will maintain NATO membership subject to an agreement that Scotland will not host nuclear weapons and NATO continues to respect the right of members to only take part in UN sanctioned operations." [6]
By August, SNP leader Alex Salmond faced rebellion from party MSPs. The party had already begun advising MSPs to avoid speaking about NATO in public, but a number went on to send amendments to conference backing continued NATO opposition. [7]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2015) |
At the party's Autumn conference in Perth on 19 October 2012, the SNP hosted an open debate on their policy towards NATO. Much of the debate was broadcast live on TV by the BBC. The party leadership, including Salmond, backed the pro-NATO side. A number of MSPs opposed the policy change. Grassroots activists also took part in the debate, with high-profile figures like Natalie McGarry arguing against a policy change. [8]
After the debate, SNP members voted 426–332 to overturn their policy of opposition to NATO. [1]
MSPs John Finnie and Jean Urquhart immediately resigned from the SNP over the policy change. [9] Fellow MSP John Wilson was initially persuaded to keep the party whip, but resigned after the subsequent Scottish independence referendum defeat. [10]
The youth wing of the SNP, Young Scots for Independence (YSI), opposed the change in party policy "on the basis that [NATO] is a nuclear alliance". [11] This opposition was reaffirmed in 2016. [11] In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the YSI reversed its position and gave its "full support" for an independent Scotland joining NATO. [12]
The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence or secession from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership of the European Union, with a platform based on civic nationalism. The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 45 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons at Westminster, and it is the third-largest political party by membership in the United Kingdom, behind the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. The current Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has served as First Minister of Scotland since 20 November 2014, though she announced her forthcoming resignation from these roles in a press conference on 15 February 2023.
The Scottish Greens are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 2022 local elections, the party sits on 13 of the 32 Scottish local councils, with a total of 35 councillors. They hold two ministerial posts in the third Sturgeon government following a power-sharing agreement with the SNP in August 2021, marking the first time Green party politicians will be in government in the UK.
Alexander Neil is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2012 to 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights from 2014 to 2016. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 2011 until his retirement in 2021.
John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland since 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery since 2021. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2000 to 2004. He served as Education Secretary from 2016 to 2021 and as Finance Secretary from 2007 to 2016. Swinney has also served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Perthshire North since 2011, having previously represented North Tayside from 1999 to 2011.
SNP Students is the student wing of the Scottish National Party (SNP), representing students in Scottish higher education. It was formed in 1961 when various student organisations supportive of Scottish independence and the SNP in particular decided to join forces into a new constituent body.
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018, he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017, where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a left social democratic political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. The SNP has controlled Scotland's devolved legislature since the 2007 election as a minority government, and were a majority government from the 2011 election and have been a minority government, since the 2016 election. Its current leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is the First Minister of Scotland.
Johann MacDougall Lamont is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 until her election to the leadership in 2011. In addition to her ministerial and leadership roles, she has been a campaigner on equality issues and violence against women throughout her political career.
Stewart Hosie is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee East since 2005. He has served as the SNP Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since December 2022, and previously from 2015 to 2017. He served as the SNP Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office since 2021. He served as Deputy Leader of the SNP to Nicola Sturgeon from November 2014 to October 2016. He was also the SNP Deputy Westminster Leader and the SNP Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from May 2015, until he was succeeded in both positions by Kirsty Blackman in June 2017.
The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
John Gordon Wilson is a Scottish politician. He was formerly a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region from 2007 until 2016. He sat as a Scottish National Party (SNP) member and then as an independent after 2014. He stood unsuccessfully as a Green Party candidate in the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election and then as an independent candidate in the 2017 Scottish local elections.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader of the Alba Party since 2021. Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He served as the party's depute leader from 1987 to 1990.
A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side won with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the January 1910 general election, which was held before the introduction of universal suffrage.
Natalie McGarry is a Scottish former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2015 to 2017. She was elected as a Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate in the 2015 general election but resigned the SNP whip after six months and sat as an independent until the end of the parliamentary session in May 2017.
The 2014 Scottish National Party leadership election was held to choose the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and First Minister of Scotland, following the resignation of Alex Salmond as first minister and leader. Nicola Sturgeon emerged as the only candidate and was elected unopposed as leader of the SNP.
There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new National Convener of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2000. The election followed the announcement by SNP Leader Alex Salmond, that he would be stepping down as SNP leader in 2000. Salmond's announcement came in the face of internal criticism after a series of high-profile fall-outs with party members. Elections were also held for the position of Depute Leader.
The 2004 Scottish National Party leadership election was held following the resignation of John Swinney as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP). Nominations opened on 22 June, with three candidates nominated, and voting began on 13 August. This was the first election where all party members could vote. The results were announced on 3 September; Alex Salmond defeated Roseanna Cunningham and Michael Russell, with more than 75% of votes.
A second referendum on independence from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by the Scottish Government. An independence referendum was first held on 18 September 2014, with 55% voting "No" to independence. The Scottish Government stated in its white paper for independence that voting Yes was a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path, and choose a new and better direction for our nation". Following the "No" vote, the cross party Smith Commission proposed areas that could be devolved to the Scottish Parliament; this led to the passing of the Scotland Act 2016, formalising some of the new devolved policy areas in time for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign.
Withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the legal and political process whereby a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation withdraws from the North Atlantic Treaty, and thus the country in question ceases to be a member of NATO. The formal process is stated in article 13 of the Treaty. This says that any country that wants to leave must send the United States a "notice of denunciation", which the U.S. would then pass on to the other countries in the alliance. After a one-year waiting period, the country that wants to leave would be out.
Alex Salmond's term as first minister of Scotland began on 17 May 2007 when he was formally sworn into office at the Court of Session. It followed his Scottish National Party's win at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, where his party defeated the incumbent Labour Party by just one seat. Salmond's term ended on 18 November 2014, following his resignation in the aftermath of the Yes campaign's defeat in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.