Trident will be price of SNP power-sharing deal at Westminster

NICOLA Sturgeon stepped up her campaign to scrap Trident yesterday as she held her first face-to-face talks with David Cameron since becoming First Minister.

Nicola SturgeonGETTY

Nicola Sturgeon has stepped up her campaign to scrap Trident

With polls pointing to Labour losing swathes of seats in Scotland in next May’s general election the SNP could hold the balance of power in a hung Parliament.

Speaking after she emerged from No 10, Ms Sturgeon again set out her key demands in the event of the party being asked to do a deal.

She has repeatedly ruled out an agreement with Conservatives but has hinted at working with Labour.

Yesterday, she confirmed taking Britain’s nuclear deterrent out of the Clyde and ending austerity would be the price for putting Ed Miliband into Downing Street.

Laying out her terms for any deal with other parties, Ms Sturgeon said she could not lend her support to any party that wanted to go ahead with a Trident replacement.

It came after she attended a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council, which brings together UK ministers and the leaders of the devolved administrations.

She held separate face-to-face talks with the Prime Minister where he agreed to give Holyrood the power to lower the voting age in time for the 2016 election.

Ms Sturgeon later joined forces with Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and the Greens in demanding “serious concessions” from Labour.

The UK Government has said a decision on whether Trident is to be replaced will be taken in 2016.

I think we can unite very strongly

Nicola Sturgeon

The coalition is split, with the Tories backing like-for-like replacement and the Lib Dems opposed.

Labour is split about the party’s position on renewing the nuclear deterrent.

Ms Sturgeon said a decision not to replace Trident would be “pretty fundamental” to any deal, adding that to replace the missile system would be “economic lunacy at a time when public services are under pressure”.

She said: “I think we can unite very strongly to say that in a time of austerity one of the last things – if not the last thing – we should be doing is making a decision to spend £100billion on a new generation of nuclear weapons.”

Ms Wood said there was “no difference of opinion” between Plaid, the SNP and the Greens on the issue.

The Trident-armed Vanguard submarines must go out of service within 10 years.

It could cost up to £30billion to replace them with suitable new submarines.

Mr Cameron confirmed he had agreed to give the Scottish Parliament the power to lower the voting age.

The UK and Scottish Governments described the meeting between Mr Cameron and Ms Sturgeon as “cordial and constructive’’.

Both also agreed to look further at welfare reform in Scotland.

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