SNP’s defence policy has the ring of something scrawled on a Fresher’s Week beer mat

But last week, it emerged that the SNP government put the whole plan in jeopardy by blocking a £2.5million grant. Why? Because the SNP has a ban on spending public money on munitions.

This policy may seem a little out-of-touch in a world where Russia’s guns are currently pounding a European country with millions of artillery shells a year. And in this case, the shells are hypothetical.

According to reports, the reason for the ban on the centre is that any welders could build submarines for the Royal Navy. UK Labour's baffled Defence Secretary John Healey told BBC Scotland's Sunday show: "It's the first time I've come across [such a policy] but it really strikes me as student union politics."

Not only does the SNP’s defence policy have the ring of something scrawled on a Fresher’s Week beer mat, but it doesn’t even make any sense. The SNP Government owns and funds work at the Ferguson Marine shipyard, which does subcontract work for BAE Systems on the Royal Navy’s type 26 frigate programme.

It was left to me in Parliament last week to break the news to my SNP colleagues there will be munitions on the frigates. As I asked at the time: “What does the Government believe that the army, the navy and the air force should defend the country with? Peashooters? Bows and arrows? A telling-off?”

Just to be clear, I don’t take the issue of defence lightly. As the MSP representing HM Naval Base Clyde, I have seen countless submariners saying goodbye to their loved ones – and witnessed the relief and joy when they are reunited months later.

But the reality is that the world today is a much more dangerous place than it was just a few years ago, and ignoring that reality won’t keep us safe.

Last year, Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard confirmed that an incident in 2022, where Shetland’s undersea cable delivering internet and telephone services was cut, was almost certainly an act of Russian sabotage.

In November, fighter jets from RAF Lossiemouth were scrambled to intercept a Russian military aircraft over the North Sea.

And only a few weeks ago, a Russian spyship was spotted lingering near the coast of the Outer Hebrides.

As Keir Starmer put it when he visited BAE Systems in Glasgow earlier this month, spending on defence is about making the country “an armour-clad nation with the strongest alliances and the most advanced capabilities equipped for the decades to come”.

The Defence Review the UK Labour government commissioned tackles everything from cyber attacks to artificial intelligence.

It includes plans for a hybrid navy with a new fleet of submarines and autonomous vessels patrolling the North Atlantic.

And yes, it includes making sure we have enough munitions to defend ourselves. The first responsibility of government is the security of the nation. As UK Labour government delivers, the SNP are all over the place and posted missing.