Scottish political leaders have accused George Osborne of pre-empting a potentially divisive vote on the future of nuclear weapons by preparing Faslane naval base for the renewal of Trident.
Mr Osborne said that a £500 million investment in the Clyde base is “partly to ready Faslane for Trident’s replacement”.
Just two Scottish MPs back replacing Trident, with 56 SNP MPs and Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray indicating they would not support its renewal.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has set herself on a potential collision course with UK Labour by confirming she will bow to the will of Scottish party members on their support for Trident.
The party will hold an open debate on Trident at its conference in October and Ms Dugdale confirmed the winning argument will become the position of the Scottish Labour Party.
Three of the four UK leadership candidates support renewal but left-wing abolitionist Jeremy Corbyn is leading in the polls.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney accused Mr Osborne of deliberately trying to stir up tensions in the Labour Party by making the announcement less than two weeks before the leadership ballot closes.
He said the UK Government has prioritised nuclear weapons over welfare but Mr Osborne hit back that Mr Swinney will soon have his own tax and welfare powers.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie accused Mr Osborne of being “provocative and premature”.
“He’s come up here in a big flash to try to provoke the anti-Trident sentiment among quite a large population in Scotland,” Mr Rennie said.
Mr Osborne told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland the £500m investment is “partly to ready Faslane for Trident’s replacement… to make sure that we remain a free democracy that is able to defend ourselves at the last instance”.
He added: “In a very uncertain world, are we really content to throw away Britain’s ultimate insurance policy?
“Can Nicola Sturgeon or Alex Salmond tell me what the world is going to look like in 2060, because that is when we are making this decision for. I don’t think they can.”
The final decision on the renewal of Trident isn’t expected until next year but there is no obligation on the Government to give Parliament a vote on taking the programme forward.
If a vote does take place the Tories now have the political weight to force the issue through Parliament, meaning renewal is highly likely to go ahead under this Government.