UK military would remain in independent Scotland for 20 years

Prof Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute, said the Scottish National Party (SNP) would be forced to rely on the British Armed Forces for decades if it ever secures independence. The Scottish Government last week unveiled plans for defence in an independent Scotland that included the creation of a separate Scottish military. But Prof Chalmers said such a force would have to grow “under the protection of” and remain “very closely integrated” with the British Armed Forces. “There’s no suggestion (in the paper) that all UK forces will ever withdraw,” he said. “They say our most enduring security partnership will be with the UK. “So to me that suggests that after 20 years of independence, there will still – if there’s a need to do so – there’ll still be UK conventional forces on Scottish soil.”