EDINBURGH, September 17 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – Certain parts of the British armed forces, in the event Scottish voters back independence, may be given a choice to transfer to the Scottish armed forces, Stuart Crawford, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army and a defense analyst, has told RIA Novosti.
"It would be perfectly feasible for the rest of the UK Government to say, "form your own forces." I think what is most likely to happen is that those armed forces currently serving in the UK forces would be given the choice of transferring to the Scottish armed forces. I don't know how many would take that up," Crawford, who served during the First Gulf War, said.
Crawford told RIA Novosti that the "pragmatic" approach to dividing up the UK armed forces in the event of a Yes vote would be to allow the recognizably Scottish elements to become part of a Scottish Defense Force.
"The pragmatic solution would seem to be to take those units of the British army which are recognizably Scottish, the Royal Scots and the five and a bit battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and possibly the Scots guards, and say to them this is what is happening and you have the choice which way to go," Crawford said.
"The answer seems to depend on how the post-vote negotiations will be set up. I dare say there will have been some preliminary discussion that will have taken place, although I don't know that for sure," Crawford said.
"But whether the units would go across lock, stock and barrel… I just think that is unlikely," Crawford added.
Asked by RIA Novosti whether the timescale for setting up a Scottish Defense Force, 18 months after the referendum that take places Thursday, was realistic, Crawford replied, "It would be feasible, but the question is - and nobody has dealt with this in any detail that I am aware – how exactly will the armed forces of the UK divide?"
"Will the Westminster Government say right, you can have all the Scottish regiments. Is that what the SNP wants?" Crawford said.
"The other argument is that these 'Scottish' regiments belong to the British army, they can't just be given away," Crawford added.
Crawford was commenting after 14 former chiefs of the UK armed forces put their names to a joint letter published in the tabloid newspaper The Sun.
The letter, signed by seven former Chiefs of the Defense Staff, including Lords Boyce, Guthrie, Inge, Vincent, Stirrup, Craig and Richards says, "A vote for separation would undermine both Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom's defense. The division of the UK may or may not be politically or economically sensible, but in military terms we are clear: it will weaken us all."
"The plans I previously outlined certainly had the Scottish regiments being part of the Scottish Defense Force but nobody has said that is how it will happen," Crawford told RIA Novosti.
Scots will vote on Thursday, September 18, in an independence referendum that will ask one question, "Should Scotland become an independent country?"
