Dave Doogan: A plan to defend an independent Scotland is ‘not an ambition, it’s a minimum’

A plan to defend Scotland in the event of independence is “not an ambition, it is a minimum”, Dave Doogan has said.  

Speaking during a Holyrood fringe event on strengthening Scotland’s industrial and international future, in partnership with Babcock, at the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen, the party’s Westminster group leader warned that “the threats are there” and Scotland must have a plan for defence in the buildup to independence.   

Doogan told delegates: “Defence of the realm is the first duty of any state. We all have aspirations to be an independent nation, and we have to have a plan to defend that state.   

“It’s not cogent not to be able to speak to that priority. It’s not an ambition, it’s a minimum. And when we are next in the heat of a referendum campaign, we’ll need to have a really good prospectus for people who are interested in that element of the state’s responsibility.”  

Doogan pointed to Scotland’s history of defending itself and said: “We can’t let the last 300 years dictate the next 300 weeks.” “We live in a contested world, there are threats everywhere,” he said.   

In an interview in the latest edition of Holyrood, Doogan revealed he has devised a defence plan for the event of Scotland securing independence.  

The “comprehensive overview” will be shared “when there’s an audience that is willing to receive it”, Doogan told Holyrood. 

The plan, he said, was written several years ago and would need a “thorough refresh” in light of current ongoing world events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

But he insisted the “basics are there”, while also admitting to harbouring an ambition to be the defence secretary in an independent Scotland. 

Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Energy Stephen Gethins told delegates that contrary to what some people think, Scotland is not a small country and, in global and European terms, is “a medium-sized country”, and the biggest threat to it at the moment is the war in Ukraine.  

He said: “It is an assault on the international rules-based system, and when you are the size of a country like Scotland, you rely on the international rules-based system.   

“The biggest dividing line in the war in Ukraine is that Russia does not believe in Ukraine’s to exist.”  

He added: “One of the biggest challenges we are seeing is with our relationship with the United States, where we are increasingly seeing some fraying of those who believe in the international rule-based system.”  

Today, the Scottish Government announced that it will match the UK Government’s funding for two specialist defence colleges in Scotland to the tune of £10m.   

Gareth Hedicker, COO Marine of Babcock International, said it is important that announcements about shipbuilding in Scotland “need to turn into contracts”.   

He told delegates: “For me, one of the things we need to shift our thinking into is skills and how we’re providing skills and capability to allow people jobs. That’s obviously a mega shift, because at the moment, whether it is apprenticeships or degrees, there is an educational framework, and that drives durations and some of the content.  

“Some of the content isn’t necessarily what industry needs today.” 

Sara Thiam, CEO of Prosper, a membership organisation focused on economic development, said that while defence is seen as a high-growth industry by the UK Government, to see that growth “you need to get all the other bits right”.  

She said: “That’s skills, planning, consenting, and how procurement works. You need to be employing local people as far as possible, incentivising them to be located in a particular place.”