Owen Thompson has secured a short debate on the issue – highlighted by The National on Monday – immediately after the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions.
The so-called Ten Minute Rule Motion will allow him to speak for ten minutes and to take interventions from other MPs before the opposing case is made and the motion is put to a vote.
If a majority of MPs support the motion titled Transport of Nuclear Weapons it would allow Thompson to bring forward a Private Member’s Bill proposing a ban on such convoys from travelling through Scotland.
Thompson’s motion states: “That leave be given to make provision for controls on the transportation of nuclear weapons.”
The motion is also supported by Stirling MP Steven Paterson, a member of the SNP’s defence team at Westminster.
Earlier this month a convoy travelled along the M74, passing Hamilton and Motherwell, before heading onto the M73 passing Baillieston in Glasgow, and then onto the M80 passing Cumbernauld and Stirling before reaching the Royal Navy’s nuclear weapon store at Coulport on Loch Long.
The convoy made the return journey to the south of England last Saturday, according to the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which tracked both the journeys.
Commenting, ahead of today’s debate Paterson said: “These are the most dangerous devices ever made and the fact that they are able to travel through peaceful towns and villages on the back of trucks is completely unacceptable. Any form of accident when transporting these weapons of mass destruction could have a devastating impact within a number of miles of radius.
“I am therefore happy to second a motion calling for these nuclear weapons convoys to be stopped. These weapons are, not only massively expensive and strategically useless, but also have an impact on public safety.
“The SNP stood on a strong platform that called for the abolition of Trident nuclear weapons and the voice of the people of Scotland could not have been louder.
“It is time for the UK Government and the Ministry of Defence to wake up to the wishes of those people who are forced to live as neighbours to these dangerous weapons.”
Earlier this week, The National revealed that the SNP MSP Bruce Crawford has written to Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, calling for the immediate halt of nuclear weapons convoys from travelling through densely populated areas of Scotland.
The Ministry of Defence insist the convoys are safe but a report by The National’s sister paper The Sunday Herald in 2014 found that convoys carrying nuclear bombs and hazardous radioactive materials by road through Scotland and across the UK had suffered 70 safety lapses between July 2007 and December 2012, according to the Ministry of Defence.
A log of incidents obtained by the newspaper from the MoD revealed vehicles have suddenly broken down, fuel has leaked, brakes have overheated, alarms have malfunctioned and other vital systems have failed.
The convoys ferry Trident nuclear warheads between a nuclear bomb factory in Burghfield, Berkshire to the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport.
Source: http://www.thenational.scot/politics/snp-mps-secure-commons-debate-to-remove-nuclear-convoys-from-scottish-roads.12582