​UK government accused of cynicism and having wrong priorities after Faslane cash announcement

Scottish CND has hit out at the UK government’s announcement that £500 million will be spent on the nuclear sub base at Faslane.

Chancellor George Osborne, in a visit to the Gare Loch facility, said the cash will be spent on upgrading ship lifts, sea walls and jetties and will help secure thousands of jobs.

However, anti-nuclear activists say its real purpose is to entrench further the Trident nuclear weapons programme, which is based at Faslane.

The chancellor has also been accused of pre-empting a Westminster vote on the renewal of the system.

Scottish CND coordinator John Ainslie said the cash would have been better spent helping the sick and vulnerable.

He hit out: “We should beware of George Osborne bearing gifts. If you look underneath the wrapping, you will see that his real present for Scotland is more nuclear submarines.

“He is cutting benefits for the most vulnerable in our society and making the poor pay for more weapons of mass destruction.”

This was backed by Brendan O’Hara MP, the SNP’s defence spokesperson.

He said: “He should be defending the disabled, not his government’s indefensible decision to spend £100 billion on a new generation of nuclear weapons.

“This so-called investment in Faslane will directly support the deployment of Trident submarines.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with Westminster’s values and priorities if the chancellor thinks wasting billions on nuclear weapons is something to boast about when people are dying within our benefits system.”