The Royal Marines may “have a bright future” in Angus no matter the outcome of the independence debate, it has emerged.
Defence secretary Philip Hammond said on a visit to 45 Commando’s base in Arbroath that the marines, lodged there since 1971, would not leave if the UK “remains together”.
However SNP Angus MP Mike Weir has said the Scottish Government will guarantee the presence at RM Condor of a specialised fighting force, should there be a “Yes” vote for independence in September.
Mr Hammond visited Condor before a full cabinet meeting of the Westminster Government in Aberdeen. He said the UK “could not assume” it would base UK forces after any split.
“So long as the United Kingdom remains together, our intention is to keep this unit here.
“There was a plan at one time to look at concentrating the marines in England but the costs would have been enormous and the benefits would have been rather minimal it was a bit of bureaucratic tidy-mindedness I think, putting them all in one place.”
Mr Hammond said previous plans to move the unit closer to its English-based compatriots, 40 and 42 Commando, would have been of “enormous cost” and “minimal benefit”.
Mr Weir said the comments were “rather strange” and that he believes it has always been the UK Government’s intention to move the Arbroath troops to Dorset in England.
He said: “Far from being a bit of ‘bureaucratic tidy mindedness’ I understand that has been the ambition of the Ministry of Defence for quite some time, partly driven by the fact that 45 Commando were originally seen as specialists in Arctic warfare while their role in more recent years has, for obvious reasons, been in desert warfare.”
“It was envisaged that an army unit returning from Germany would take up post at Condor to replace 45 Commando. We have a great many offshore assets and RM Condor is in a good location for a marine protection unit.
“Also given the increasing effects of climate change and the opening up of the High North there will be a substantial increase in naval activity and shipping in Scottish waters making a marine capability vital.”
Mr Hammond’s predecessor, Liam Fox, stated in 2011 that Condor-based marines would be transferred to south-west England “within five years”.