The Advertiser has invited General Election candidates standing to represent Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber to share their views on key topics to the area.

This week, the SNP candidate Brendan O'Hara writes about defence.

Defence, or rather the cost of defence, has suddenly become an issue in this election, with Labour’s commitment to effectively write a blank cheque for the next generation of nuclear armed submarines and the continuation of what they call the Continuous At Sea Deterrent.

Increasing defence can only be justified if it were to result in a bigger, better equipped Army, or a modernised Air Force capable of protecting the north Atlantic Gap, or if it’s invested in combating cyber-attacks, or planning with allies how we make the world more secure at a time of massive population upheaval, driven by climate change and scarce resources.

Pouring tens of billions into a nuclear weapons system and four submarines does not represent value for money. The UK’s nuclear obsession means that the so-called last line of defence, is increasingly becoming our only line of defence.

There is no military case for Trident because Trident is a political weapon, one that can never, and will never, be used. But year-on-year, it will consume more than 50 per cent of the UK defence procurement budget.

Quite simply, at a time of austerity and in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, there can be no moral, military or economic justification for throwing money down the bottomless pit of nuclear weapons.

As Labour’s David Lammy said in 2016: “The money being spent on Trident could fund up to 850,000 affordable homes or 9,000 new schools. Public services must be our priority.” 

And who could disagree with that...except, of course, the David Lammy of 2024.