Labour vote against Trident nukes in Scotland

Delegates at the Scottish Labour Party conference last weekend voted to campaign to scrap Trident nuclear weapons.

The vote will be a boost to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s aim of overturning the party’s position on unilateral disarmament.

Labour’s new Scottish leader, Kezia Dugdale, is in favour of renewing Trident.

The GMB union in Scotland denounced the vote. But the Unite and Unison unions were both in favour of ditching Trident.

It is not new for Labour members in Scotland to hold a different position on Trident to the leadership of the British party.

But last weekend’s vote is a sign of the pressure Labour faces in Scotland.

Trident was a key issue of the independence campaign last year.

The conference vote now means that 75 percent of people in Scotland voted for parties that oppose Trident.

Dugdale will hope it can help boost her party’s fortunes at next year’s Scottish elections.

But the impact of the Trident vote and other new policy positions she outlined remain to be seen.