Labour urged to scrap Trident renewal policy to get SNP support for any election deal

Jeremy Corbyn has been urged to scrap his party's policy of renewing Britain's nuclear deterrent programme, if Labour wishes to form any electoral pact with the SNP after the next general election.

Stewart McDonald, the SNP's defence spokesperson, said the two parties had a "historic" chance to get rid of the Trident nuclear weapons system, claiming the Labour leader would be "mad not to grab" the opportunity.

He said that if the scenario arises of Labour requiring support from another party in the aftermath of any election, dismantling Trident would be "high up" on the agenda for Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister and SNP leader, in any discussions.

At the 2017 snap election, Labour's manifesto supported the renewal of Trident, but said the party would lead efforts to "create a nuclear free world".

Over the next decade, designing, producing and maintaining the fleet of nuclear submarines which carry warheads is forecast to cost the Ministry of Defence (MoD) a total of £50.9bn, according to the National Audit Office.

In an interview with The House Magazine, Mr McDonald said: "On the issue of nuclear weapons, of course there has to be a serious discussion that says, 'you want to get rid of them, we want to get rid of them, let's work out a way we can make this happen'.

"I hope that if Jeremy is in the position to form a government, perhaps with an arrangement with the Scottish National Party, then that [scrapping Trident] should be one of the key planks of any discussion we have, because [Mr] Corbyn agrees with us on this. He has a long an honourable history of agreeing with us on this.

"We'd ultimately have an opportunity, the first opportunity that would have presented itself in British history, for Britain to get rid of nuclear weapons. We would be mad, and Jeremy Corbyn would be mad, not to grab that opportunity."

Asked whether it would form a "red line" for the SNP, Mr McDonald replied: “The red lines will be decided by the first minister and it’s entirely sensible that the First Minister is able to set those red lines. But knowing the First Minister as I do, as a lifelong anti-nuclear campaigner – in fact I think she joined the CND before she joined the SNP – that’s going to be pretty high up on her agenda. Of course it is.”

In response to Mr McDonald's remarks, a Labour spokesperson said: "As Jeremy Corbyn made clear during the general election, we’re not doing deals or coalitions with anyone. We are campaigning for a Labour government.

“Jeremy and the Labour Party have long been committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which aims to achieve nuclear disarmament. Trident renewal is Labour policy, as set out in our manifesto.”