Tavish Scott will set out his party’s Holyrood campaign themes The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats is to set out his party’s campaigning themes for next year’s Holyrood elections.
Tavish Scott will focus on creating jobs, reforming public services and improving education when he addresses the UK party’s conference in Liverpool.
He will also make clear his support for the building of new aircraft carriers in Scotland.
But he will repeat his opposition to upgrading Trident.
Mr Scott will say the nuclear missile system, which is carried by submarines based at Faslane on the Clyde, should not be replaced because ”there’s no money left”.
He will tell the conference: “The world has changed.
“And I think people the length and breadth of the country understand this.
“That’s why now, more than ever, we should not spend our taxpayers’ money on an outdated relic of the Cold War.”
However, Mr Scott will highlight the importance of the new aircraft carriers to jobs in Scotland.
Doubts have emerged over the future of the carriers, already partially under construction at Rosyth in Fife and on the Clyde, as part of a sweeping review of defence spending.
Mr Scott will say: “Thousands of people in Glasgow and in Fife are using the skills passed down through 12 generations to meet our country’s defence needs.
“Aircraft carriers are being built in Scotland right now.
“Wipe away those skills and that knowledge and it may not return. We may never be able to build warships again.
“It’s that serious. The social and economic consequences will be staggering.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.