CONTEXT
The present Scottish Government was elected in May 2007 on a manifesto that set out clearly its opposition to nuclear weapons, and specifically to the replacement of Trident, the UK Government's nuclear weapons system. In June 2007, the Scottish Parliament held a debate on the UK Government's decision to renew the Trident missile system, based at the HM Naval Base Clyde (Faslane and Coulport). In this debate, the Scottish Parliament voted conclusively against the renewal of Trident, demonstrating the clear opposition of the Scottish people to the UK Government's proposed course of action.
On 22 October 2007, the Scottish Government hosted a 1-day summit on Trident, attended by representatives from across civic Scotland. One of the outcomes of this Summit was the agreement that the Government would set up a Working Group on Scotland without Nuclear Weapons to consider, in more detail, some of the issues that had been raised in the course of discussion at the Summit.
The Working Group on Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons was therefore set up in April 2008 with a membership drawn from, or recommended by, those who had attended the Summit. Working Group members were invited to serve by the Minister for Parliamentary Business, who was to chair the Working Group.
A full list of members of the Working Group and the remit with which it was charged are attached below. The Working Group has met quarterly since April 2008, publishing the minutes of its meetings on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/swnw-working-group .
The conclusions of the Working Group are, as the header says, its own, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Scottish Government.