Healey: SNP Government ‘a threat to UK security’’

During Defence Questions in Parliament, Defence Secretary John Healey described the Scottish National Party (SNP) government as “a threat to our security,” in one of the most pointed interventions by a Cabinet minister on the issue of Scottish independence in recent months.

Conservative MP John Lamont, who represents Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, criticised the SNP’s latest independence paper, published by the Scottish Government in Edinburgh last month. The document stated that an independent Scotland would not host nuclear weapons.

“Does the Minister agree that Scottish independence would be a gift to Britain’s enemies and would put at risk the hard work of our armed forces in keeping us safe at home?” Lamont asked.

Healey replied: “The honourable gentleman is right. The continuation of the Scottish nationalist Government in Scotland is a threat to our security and to future prosperity and jobs in that country.”

His remarks linked the SNP’s position on defence and nuclear deterrence directly to the UK’s wider security posture, seemingly portraying the Scottish Government’s approach as undermining both national defence and economic stability.

A short while later, Conservative MP Lincoln Jopp pressed Healey to clarify whether he viewed China as a similar threat. “Now that the Secretary of State has warmed up a bit by calling the SNP a threat to our national security, will he have another go and say whether China is a threat to our national security?”

Healey dismissed the question, replying: “I have nothing to add to what I said in response to the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson), who asked the same question. What a waste of a question.”