The SNP’s Unrecognisable Turn: From Anti-War Bastion to Pro-War Drift
"For much of its 90-year history, the Scottish National Party (SNP) stood as a resolute voice against militarism, a party whose moral framework was forged in opposition to war, nuclear weapons, and Westminster’s imperial adventures. From its condemnation of the Iraq War to its rejection of Trident nuclear submarines on Scottish soil, the SNP cultivated an identity as a champion of peace, rooted in a vision of an independent Scotland free from the trappings of militarised power. Yet, as of 14 March 2025, under First Minister John Swinney, that identity is fraying. Critics like Robin McAlpine argue that the SNP has become "unrecognisable," its anti-war principles sacrificed on the altar of pragmatism and power, morphing into something indistinguishable.
https://robinmcalpine.org/the-snp-is-becoming-unrecognisable/
A Legacy of Anti-Militarism
The SNP’s anti-militarism was once a bedrock. In 2014, SNP MPs, led by voices like Moray’s Angus Robertson, expressed “deep, deep worries” about a “third Iraq War,” voting against military action, as BBC’s Nick Robinson noted on X. The party’s opposition to UK airstrikes in Syria in 2015 was equally firm, with all SNP MPs rejecting the motion, arguing that bombing would exacerbate chaos and civilian suffering without defeating Daesh (ISIS), an unanimous stance alongside Labour dissenters and the Greens. On Trident, the SNP’s position was unequivocal: nuclear weapons were “wrong strategically, morally, and financially,” a £2.7 billion annual waste that could fund hospitals instead, with a pledge to remove them from the Clyde post-independence. In 2016, only one Scottish MP—defying the SNP line—voted for Trident renewal, while the party pushed motions to hold Tony Blair accountable for Iraq War crimes.
The Swinney Shift: A Historical Betrayal
This anti-war ethos wasn’t mere posturing—it was a defining trait, distinguishing the SNP from Westminster’s hawkish consensus. Yet, the seeds of change were there, buried in John Swinney’s past. As McAlpine notes in his 5 March 2025 piece, Swinney, during his earlier stint as leader, tried to sway the SNP’s National Executive Committee to support the Iraq War—an attempt thwarted by the party’s pacifist core. Now, as First Minister in 2025, Swinney is steering the SNP into uncharted territory. His recent comments on BBC’s Sunday Show, reported by The National on 14 March 2025, mark a seismic shift: The notion that Scottish soldiers could be deployed to Ukraine this year in a peacekeeping role, wearing Scottish regiment colours. McAlpine calls this a historic betrayal—“for the first time in the 90-year history of the SNP, its leader has proposed that his party policy should be to have Scottish soldiers involved in overseas military adventurism.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98j1l01p96o
From Diplomacy to Deployment
This isn’t a minor pivot. It’s a rupture. The SNP that once decried military overreach now entertains boots on the ground in a conflict that ties Scotland to the volatile geopolitics of Ukraine and Russia. Swinney’s criticism of Donald Trump’s treatment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy aligns him with Westminster’s pro-Ukraine stance, a far cry from the SNP’s past insistence on diplomacy over intervention. The party’s loyalists dismiss such critiques as conspiracy or hyperbole, but the facts speak louder: Swinney is reshaping the SNP into something its founders—and many of its voters—wouldn’t recognise.
Trident and the Fading Moral Stance
The Trident issue further exposes this drift. Despite the SNP’s official line remaining anti-nuclear, the urgency of its rhetoric has dulled. Where once the party demanded the immediate removal of “weapons of mass destruction from the Clyde”, Swinney’s government now treads softly, perhaps eyeing the economic realities of HMNB Faslane’s conventional role. Meanwhile, suggestions of Scottish investment in defence industries—once anathema to the SNP’s ethical stance—hint at a broader embrace of militarisation. Holyrood magazine’s editor column on 14 March 2025 captures the unease: as the world sits “on the precipice of World War Three,” the SNP’s response feels less like principled resistance and more like cringe-worthy acquiescence.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/scotland/2025/03/snp-has-entered-new-more-serious-era
A Party Unmoored: Grassroots Discontent
For critics, this is a party unmoored from its moral compass. The SNP that opposed Blair’s war crimes and Cameron’s Syrian airstrikes now flirts with military engagement under Swinney’s watch. McAlpine’s lament—“a continual rightwards drift”—resonates with those who see the SNP trading its anti-militarism for a seat at the table of power. On X, voices amplify this dismay:
@indyscotnews echoes shock at Scottish soldiers in foreign wars, while @AngryWeegie questions when the SNP became “overtly pro-war.” The grassroots, once united by a vision of peace, now grapple with a leadership that seems to prioritise pragmatism over principle.
A Party with a Hawkish Visage or Pragmatic Evolution?
Is the SNP now a party with a hawkish visage? From a party that stood against the UK’s war machine, it now risks becoming a cog in it—Scots soldiers abroad, softening on nuclear debates, and aligning with Westminster’s security agenda. Whether this reflects a necessary adaptation to a fractious world or a cynical abandonment of its soul, one thing is clear: the SNP of 2025 is a shadow of its anti-war past, and its supporters are left wondering what’s next."
Source: iq2qq/McGrok
https://twitter.com/DDoubter53/status/1896990998074679589
https://iq2qq.wordpress.com/2025/03/12/reuters-poland-arrests-ukrainian-woman-convicted-of-selling-56-human-kidneys/