I agree with Kevan Jones MP (Letters, 19 October) that Labour’s policy on Trident should be grounded in fact. So I would like to correct his letter: there was no vote on Trident at this year’s conference. Instead, delegates explicitly decided not to discuss nuclear weapons. So the position remains as agreed by the 2014 conference, which laid the foundations of the manifesto. This stated “Labour has said [past tense] that we are committed to a minimum, credible independent nuclear deterrent, delivered through a continuous at-sea deterrent. It would require a clear body of evidence for us to change this belief [ie the belief could be changed] … the process and debate leading up to the next strategic defence and security review in 2015 needs to be open, inclusive and transparent, examining all capabilities, including nuclear. It must also examine cost implications as well as strategic necessities … To this end [Labour] will have a continuing consultation, inviting submissions from all relevant stakeholders.” So official party policy is to open a debate, not to pre-empt its conclusions.
Ann Black
Member, Labour party national executive committee
• Your editorial (19 October) does not mention other parties that still exist in Scotland. Surely an imaginative Labour party would go into next year’s Scottish election promising a referendum within the lifetime of that parliament. Instead of the issue hanging on until the SNP thinks it can win, why not a positive policy for a second referendum where a no vote really would settle the issue “for a generation”. High risk, yes, but all parties agree that union has to exist on a democratic basis (hence referendums); the politics is about the tactics of timing. Only the SNP seems to be playing this politics.
Peter Taylor
Tynemouth
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