Trident debate: Scottish Labour vote against renewal and choose to scrap nuclear missile system
Scottish Labour have voted to scrap the United Kingdom's Trident nuclear missile system, based in Scotland.
The party's conference in Perth saw delegates calling for the system not to be renewed.
Some 70.3 per cent of party members voted in favour of unilateral disarmament.
In response to the vote a spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn said: “The vote by the Scottish Labour Party Conference on Trident renewal and the protection of defence jobs is a clear sign that Labour's democracy has opened up. Scottish Labour Party members have spoken. That will now feed into the wider UK Labour debate and review of defence policy.”
Read more: Is renewing the Trident nuclear programme necessary for UK defence in the modern world?
The move comes just months after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was handed an embarrassing defeat, as his own party members voted against debating the renewal of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system.
The vote means that Labour are divided over the issue, with those in Scotland not wanting renewal but those in England backing it.
Read more: Labour party torpedoes Trident debate in blow to Jeremy Corbyn
However, today's vote will be seen as a victory for Corbyn, who wants to unilaterally disarm.
The conference debate was opened by Labour party member Stephen Low who remarked that renewing Trident is something that we do not need and cannot afford. He added:
Its purpose is to detonate a nuclear warhead above a city, killing everyone in its radius. There are other facts about Trident, but that's the central one, and one we should never forget.
However, GMB Scotland, which represents workers at Trident, said that the debate had a "glaring omission" in that it did consider what alternative jobs would be offered to those working on Trident.