Scottish government says no place for Trident in independent state HMS Triumph arrives at the Faslane naval base Scotland The Scottish government has said the UK would have to remove Trident nuclear forces from Scotland if the nation votes for independence next year, waving aside a report suggesting the Ministry of Defence would seek to instead have bases on the River Clyde designated sovereign UK territory. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's deputy first minister, dismissed as a "preposterous threat" a report in the Guardian newspaper suggesting London may seek to use financial pressure to force Edinburgh to accept the creation of UK sovereign bases so that Trident submarines could continue to operate from the Clyde. "This seems to me to be an outrageous attempt at bullying by the UK government," Ms Sturgeon told the BBC. I can't see how they could do that without the agreement of the Scottish government and speaking for my party that is not an agreement that would be forthcoming. But Downing Street on Thursday denied the government had commissioned any contingency plans over the Faslane nuclear submarine base. No such ideas have come to the secretary of state or prime minister. They would not support them if they did. The Guardian report and Ms Sturgeon's reaction highlight the central role that Trident would play in negotiations on the terms of Scottish independence, however. Scotland's ruling Scottish National party is strongly opposed to nuclear weapons and has said that Trident missiles and submarines would have to be removed from the Clyde as soon as possible after the creation of an independent state. Finding a new home for Trident and any successor system would be a hugely expensive undertaking that would be likely to fuel calls for the UK to abandon its policy of maintaining a nuclear deterrent. Some form of an at least temporary deal on control of the bases would be necessary in the event of independence, given that removal of Trident would take years and Scotland would not be a nuclear weapon state. Analysts say the Scottish government would have strong diplomatic and financial incentives to agree to a long-term arrangement allowing the UK to operate its nuclear forces from Faslane and missile store at Coulport. But Ms Sturgeon said nuclear weapons would not be used as a "bargaining chip." "Politicians, often and sometimes justifiably, get criticised for a lack of principle - getting rid of Trident is an issue of principle, certainly for the party and the government that I represent," she said. The Guardian report suggested that the UK government could seek to have Scotland share the costs of moving Trident, with the alternative being allowing the continued use of the Clyde bases. Ms Sturgeon said Scotland could not be expected to pay for continued use of weapons of mass destruction it neither wanted nor needed, and that the sensible option would be to decommission them instead.