THE Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been urged to “come clean” over its decision to allow a “detachment” of US troops to be stationed at a military base in Scotland – after it was confirmed that officials did not tell the Scottish Government about the move.
Last year, it emerged that a new base in Lossiemouth, in Moray, would host American Poseidon P8 anti-submarine spy and war planes. When the site opened in May 2024, it became the first time the US military had a presence in Scotland since the end of the Cold War.
The Scottish Greens raised concerns that the move signalled the UK Government forging “closer military relations” with Donald Trump while he is cosying up to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Stop the War said that the decision to allow US troops to be stationed in Scotland without consulting Holyrood should be “condemned”.
The National lodged a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the Scottish Government for any correspondence from the MoD regarding the decision to allow US troops to have a presence in Scotland.
“The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested, as matters relating to Defence are reserved to the UK Government,” the response from an official in the Veteran’s Unit said.
“As a result, this information is not shared with the Scottish Government. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.”
The MoD previously refuted any suggestion there was a US military base in Scotland, following an investigation by the Ferret.
Instead they insisted it was a US “presence” with a “US naval detachment” at Lossiemouth. The US navy helped to fund the construction of the new facility where its war planes will be housed, and are set to work alongside UK aircraft.
Arianne Burgess, the Scottish Greens MSP who represents the area covering Lossiemouth, said: "A lot of local people will be shocked by these revelations and with the lack of any announcement or basic information.
"It's time for the Ministry of Defence to level with people and come clean about its arrangements.
"With Keir Starmer seemingly joined at the hip with the White House it's more important than ever that Scotland forges its own foreign policy based on human rights, peace and a rejection of the values of Donald Trump."
A spokesperson for Stop the War said that there should be “no US troops or weapons on UK soil”.
“They do not make us any safer from the threats that the warmonger politicians are so enthusiastic about talking up in order to justify increases in defence spending while cutting welfare and hitting the most vulnerable in society the hardest,” they added.
“That the MoD has stationed US troops at RAF Lossiemouth without consultation with Holyrood is of course to be condemned, but comes as no surprise given the Westminster government also allowed US nuclear weapons to be placed at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk without any transparency or debate in Parliament."
A spokesperson for the MoD said: "The United States is the UK's closest defence and security partner. As NATO allies, we regularly conduct exercises and operations together to support European and global security.
"Defence supports hundreds of thousands of high-skilled jobs across the UK, including over 26,000 in Scotland."
US troops had been based in Scotland since the 1960s, including nuclear armed submarines at Holy Loch on the Clyde.
After the Cold War ended in 1991, US forces left Holy Loch in 1992. They then left Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre, where nuclear mines were housed, in 1995, and Edzell in Aberdeenshire, a signals intelligence network, in 1997.
It comes amid concerns that Trump is in favour of a Russian land grab to end the war in Ukraine, following a meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Following the summit, the US President suggested he wants to move straight to a full peace deal, rather than negotiating a ceasefire first.
The shift in Trump’s position appears to echo the Russians’ refusal to agree to a ceasefire before engaging in peace talks.
Ukrainian president Vlodymyr Zelenskyy is set to visit the US on Monday, and is set to take UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and top European leaders with him to DC for crunch talks with the US President.
