The Ministry of Defence is relying on fishing vessels and social media users to safeguard national security in the North Sea due to a lack of armed patrols in the area, according to the SNP.
Angus Robertson, the party’s defence spokesman, has called for a permanent maritime patrol base on the Clyde and a dedicated Scottish airbase amid “increasing foreign military operations close to UK territorial waters and airspace”.
In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London ahead of publication of the strategic defence and security review (SDSR), Mr Robertson said: “As we approach publication of the strategic defence and security review it should be acknowledged that the UK has not taken northern regional security seriously enough and this must change with the new SDSR.
