John Ferry John Ferry

The Nato summit is a blow to the SNP’s nuclear plans

(Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The Nato summit in Vilnius has been an eventful one already. Even though no clear timeline for when the country can join the group was given, Ukraine’s hopes of one day becoming a Nato member were given a boost. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has hailed proposals as ‘a strong package for Ukraine, and a clear path towards its membership in Nato.’

And there are other parts of the final communique which carry more relevance closer to home — in particular, the alliance’s renewed and notably strong language opposing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Yet the SNP government led by Humza Yousaf remains committed to an independent Scotland achieving Nato accession — while also formally ratifying the TPNW.

The TPNW is a UN treaty that came into force in 2021 and is effectively a commitment to unilateral — as opposed to multilateral — nuclear disarmament. Also known as the ‘ban treaty’, it requires its signatories ‘not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons’.

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