The attention-seeking Nat who asked Theresa May if she would “kill a hundred thousand innocent men, women and children” yesterday was George Kerevan. The SNP MP has today written a long piece in the National explaining why the nuclear deterrent has been a disaster “for decades”:

“For decades, maintaining the so-called independent deterrent has detracted from delivering a successful civilian industrial policy… Instead, let’s spend the £100bn Trident 2 will cost on revitalising industry for civilian and export purposes. And finally end the pretence that Britain’s nuclear deterrent is anything but Labour’s long-time vanity project.”

Of course, in 2005 the very same George Kerevan wrote in the Scotsman about his support for keeping Britain’s nukes:

“Nuclear proliferation is a fact of global life. Anyone who really thinks Britain giving up its nuclear stockpile will persuade the Iranians to play ball is hopelessly naive and probably lives in New Zealand (which no one is going to nuke anyway). For that reason, Britain should hang on to a minimum nuclear deterrent until there’s enough democracy around to feel safer.”

Former Scotsman editor Iain Martin recalls how “George was v hawkish post-9/11” and remembers him being “v pro nuclear deterrent” in leader conferences. Usually CND types like George grow up and ditch their unilateralism, not the other way round…

UPDATE: David Roach, the Tory candidate who stood against George Kerevan in the last general election says that he advocated that the UK should set an example to the world and unilaterally disarm.

“I used to repeatedly ask him in hustings how long he thought it would be before Russia, North Korea and Pakistan would follow that example. Suffice to say he never answered. Just kept dodging it and would say he had a Damascus moment while researching for a piece on America’s nuclear capability when he was a journalist at The Scotsman.”

Nothing to do with it being a pre-requisite for would be SNP candidates hoping for selection…