The former chief of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, has warned that the Scottish National Party’s plans for a new security service in an independent country would leave Scotland vulnerable to attack by terrorists.
Sir John Scarlett, who as “C” led MI6 from 2004 to 2009, said the century-old British security service was one of the UK’s most substantial assets, universally respected around the world.
Writing in The Times today, Sir John said that a new Scottish version, developed in just a few years after a possible “yes” vote in this month’s referendum “simply cannot . . . offer anything like the level of protection currently achieved by the UK as a whole”.
He added: “The Scottish government proposals will not offer the level of protection and support currently provided by the highly sophisticated British security and intelligence agencies.”
Sir John’s comments came as another security expert warned of an independent Scotland’s inability to take action on behalf of its citizens should they become the targets of terrorist groups such as Islamic State.
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In such cases, Professor Malcolm Chalmers, Research Director (UK Defence Policy) at the Royal United Services Institute, said it was inevitable a relatively small country would be dependent on larger countries taking action on its behalf.
“Even in a scenario where Scotland was a member of Nato and had good neighbour relations with the UK, that would place it in a situation comparable with Denmark, Belgium or Ireland, relatively small independent countries,” Professor Chalmers said. “Scenarios like hostage-taking make them very dependent on other countries taking action, like the use of special forces in hostage rescue, because they wouldn’t have the capability for themselves.”