Britain’s Trident nuclear program at stake

Global Business

The United Kingdom could be on the verge of losing a big part of its territory, as new opinion polls suggest the result of Scotland’s Independence referendum is too close to call.

Five million people will vote on Thursday on whether Scotland will leave the UK, ending 300 years of political and financial Union. Among the issues is Scotland’s economy, membership in the European Union, but also critically, Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, the Trident missiles based in Scotland. CCTV’s Richard Bestic reports.

Britain's Trident nuclear program at stake

The United Kingdom could be on the verge of losing a big part of its territory, as new opinion polls suggest the result of Scotland's Independence referendum is too close to call.

Victory for those campaigning for an Independent Scotland would mean the submarines carrying Britain’s nuclear warheads had just five years to pack up and leave.

When in the 90’s, Britain’s Ministry of Defense upgraded this place, it took a decade. The idea that it can be moved out and re-sited in the five years demanded by the Independence Campaign is according to some just not possible.

At the Royal United Services Institute in London, the country’s oldest military think tank, they admit it would create huge problems for the UK government.

Independence for Scotland could re-open the entire debate over Britain’s nuclear capability.

Indeed, there are 8,000 jobs at the base to be considered but the challenge for the UK government will be its international commitments to NATO and the UK’s place in the world as a nuclear power.

For more on the economic implications of Scotland’s push for independence, Barry Eichengreen joins the show. He is an economics and political science professor at the University of California, Berkeley.