SNP and Nato: the view from 2002.

Stumbled upon this letter to the Herald from 2002 today. Responding to an article speculating about the possibility of "an accommodation on Nato membership" following John Swinney's election as leader of the SNP, the convener of the Brussels branch of the SNP wrote:

For many of us in the SNP there are no grounds for accommodation with an organisation that continues to espouse nuclear weapons and in particular a first-strike option. To suggest that a country can be a ''non-nuclear member'' of an organisation based on nuclear deterrence is hypocritical and morally indefensible. [...] For a party that campaigned tirelessly for the removal of nuclear weapons from Scotland to sign up to the ultimate nuclear club will be a betrayal of ideals. [...] I believe a majority of party members understand that a principled stand against nuclear weapons and nuclear power cannot be squared with Nato membership. The SNP has nothing to gain electorally from being accommodating on Nato and much to lose in terms of the principles on which the party has been built.

What a difference a decade makes, eh?