We chat matters of security and defence with Isobel Lindsay who is a well-known peace activist. She was a founding member of the cross-party Campaign for a Scottish Assembly in the early ’80s paving the way for the Constitutional Convention and, ultimately, the Scottish Parliament itself. 

These days she is a member of the Scottish Independence Convention and has written a paper on Security for their set of Transition Papers. Isobel met (online) with Glasgow Pensioners4Indy to speak about that paper. She laid out the main Security issues which will need clarified before independence. And with that clarification in place, we’ll be able to achieve a smooth transition and over a shorter time-scale after independence.

So what are the security and defence threats which might undermine our society?

  • climate change,
  • cyber security
  • pandemics
  • terrorist attack
  • organised crime, drug trade
  • territorial attack
  • nuclear base at Faslane Coalport is itself a threat to Scotland in terms of
  • actual warfare, where it is a major target 
  • accidents involving nuclear arms or nuclear submarines
  • regular road transport of warheads from South of England passing through Scotland 
  • Holyrood could establish a Secure Scotland Commission now to review how these issues can be dealt with….

More information

Read and download Isobel’s paper “Scotland’s Security” from the Scottish Independence Convention website here.

For more on security and defence issues see our Defending Scotland category

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