TSAMTO, September 2. The UK has prepared an action plan for the transfer of its submarines from bases in Scotland in case the autonomy leaves the kingdom.
This, as RIA Novosti reports, was reported by the Financial Times newspaper, citing competent sources.
According to the publication, one of the possible options involves sending the submarine to the Devonport base (near Plymouth). As the FT notes with reference to the analysis of the Royal Joint Institute for Defense Studies from 2014, such a step could cost 3-4 billion pounds.
The second option of action involves sending submarines to bases in the United States or France. Such a decision, the sources said, would be the least expensive for the treasury, but it could negatively affect the defense sovereignty.
Under the third option, the UK is considering a long-term lease of the current Royal Navy bases in Faslane and Coolport, in which case the kingdom will enter into negotiations with Scotland on granting the bases the status of British overseas territories. This option, according to some representatives of the government, would be the most realistic, the newspaper writes. However, the Scottish National Party supports the withdrawal of the nuclear arsenal from the territory of the region in the event of independence.
At the same time, according to the newspaper, the Ministry of Defense officially stated that they do not plan to move the nuclear arsenal from Scotland.
In early August, the head of the office of the British Prime Minister, Michael Gove, said that the British government would not prevent a new independence referendum in Scotland, if the will of the people is there. In 2014, Scotland voted to keep the region as part of the United Kingdom. The issue of holding a second referendum has been repeatedly raised by the authorities of the region, RIA Novosti notes.
