Scottish 'independence' defence, a state of emergency

Defence, a state of emergency

I have been looking into the defence of a separate Scottish state and comparing it with our current British wide defence spending and equipment that our British armed forces currently have to their disposal. I also looked into the secret intelligence services, special counter terrorism units, shipbuilding contracts and everything connected with the armed forces, as there is no doubt about it defence will play a very important role in the current and upcoming debate on Scotland’s constitutional future.

The first thing that I feel needs our urgent attention is not the shipbuilding contracts that Scotland currently has thanks to the Royal Navy, nor the number of men and women that would actually join a Scottish defence force, but the main threat that we face as a western nation in or out of the United Kingdom is “terrorism” and other internal threats from extremists.

I think the debate about defence is actually going in the completely wrong direction; it is not about how many warships Scotland would get to build as part of the UK, or without the UK, the main issue with defence is our national security, would separating Scotland from the United Kingdom harm our national security? That to me is the most fundamental issue that should be put to the separatist politicians that seek to end the 300 year old union.

 If of course the separatists did succeed in ending the union that would mean an end to Scotland having the advantage of UK wide Secret Intelligence Services, known as Mi6 and Mi5, which would put Scots national security at risk.

The number one risk to our wellbeing just now is “terrorism”, since 2001 it has been the main fear within western societies that Al Qaeda successfully stage similar attacks around western countries as they did in 2001, and they have, here in Britain we have faced 2 major attacks and countless plots to try and kill our citizens. What we have to think about is “who are the people that uncover these plots?”, and yes who are they? Well they are the men and women that work within Mi5, Mi5 is the intelligence branch that works with internal threats from extremists within our own country, they have uncovered hundreds of plots from around Britain from terrorists that wish to cause havoc on our nation.

The separatists have to realise that Scotland is not invincible, the world is not a friendly place, and we know that from countless terrorist attacks across the globe. The Scottish Nationalists seem to think that the world would somehow welcome Scotland with open arms, that the Scottish nation would face no threats as nothing would dare to harm the new sovereign state, well actually I would think a newly established state would be  very vulnerable , vulnerable to the likes of Al Qaeda.

A newly established state with no real defence plans, with no counter terrorism units, with no guarantee of a service which would prevent internal attacks would surely be the most vulnerable country in the western world? Scotland could well be a target in waiting, and why wouldn’t it be? 

These people that wish death upon the western nations would stop at nothing to show the world that they mean business, these people are not stupid, in 2001 they sussed out that the US and the west had a lack of security right across the aviation world, terrorists seed out weak security links that they can use to their advantage with devastating consequences, so how hard would it be for Al Qaeda to suss out weak links within Scotland, would it be that difficult, a country with no solid counter terrorism units, with no real intelligence services? 

The Scottish Nationalists are also in two minds about joining NATO, now the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a military alliance that came about from the cold war to prevent the expansion of the USSR, but it has grown to be much more, NATO is now a critical part of our defence, each country in NATO can freely share intelligence information. Sharing information between all 28 nations freely is one of the main reasons why Mi5 and Mi6 have prevented and uncovered so many terrorist plots that could have resulted in hundreds of deaths upon our streets.

So why would a separate Scottish state seek to end this relationship with these other nations, surely a newly sovereign state with no real intelligence services, and no real counter terrorism units would jump at the chance to join a military alliance that would be vital to Scots national security, but no. The nationalists would prefer to be isolated, isolated in their own Scottish bubble; a bubble that they seem to think cannot burst.

So the bigger picture here is not about how many warships a separate Scotland could build without the Royal Navy (which would be few or zero) but it is about our national security, would an independent Scotland provide your family with similar services such as Mi5 and Mi6? How long would it take a newly sovereign state to establish these vital services that are critical to our wellbeing? These are just some of the many questions that need to be answered about our defence, they are certainly questions that have to be answered before any Scots marks a “yes or no” on the ballot box.

I would rather live in a country that has well known and truly remarkable intelligence services such as Mi5 and Mi6 than live in a separate Scottish state that has no credible defence plans, that does not want to play a role in a key international military alliance (NATO) than face the consequences of a extremist attack due to the lack of security thanks to the Scottish separatists and their weak defence plans for a isolated Scotland.

I think it is just as important that we remember those people that fought and died for our security, that is why I would like to end this blog by paying respects to all British D-day Veterans of world war 2, I thank you for your service, and thank you for fighting to retain the country I love, “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. 

Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fall, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. 

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour!”

- Sir Winston Churchill