UK Armed Forces Would Be in Independent Scotland for Decades: Think Tank Chief

The UK’s armed forces would likely remain in Scotland for at least 20 years if the country became independent, the deputy director general of a leading defence think tank has said. Professor Malcolm Chalmers also said Trident could stay in an independent Scotland for more than a decade because of the difficulties in finding a new home for the nuclear deterrent. The deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute was responding to the Scottish Government’s latest prospectus paper on independence. Released last week, it set out plans for defence in an independent Scotland—including Nato membership, spending 2 percent of GDP on defence and the creation of a Scottish defence force and intelligence agency....