WEST FIFE'S Labour politicos are split over scrapping Trident after their party voted to ditch replacing the UK's nuclear weapons project.

More than 70 per cent of members and trade unionists backed abandoning Trident at Scottish Labour's conference on Sunday, amid warnings that it could threaten jobs at Rosyth Dockyard.

Scottish Labour deputy leader and Cowdenbeath MSP Alex Rowley insisted that scrapping Trident would secure jobs.

He is pushing for a Scottish Defence Diversification Agency, which will look at planning and diversifying jobs away from projects such as Trident.

He said, “We have a Scottish Government that wants to get rid of Trident tomorrow without any alternatives to jobs put in place.

“Many jobs within the defence sector and other sectors have closed down because of the burden of the Trident budget.

“There needs to be more investment in conventional forces and for those who work in the defence sector.

“Right now, we have aircraft carriers that don't have the vessels to support them, or the planes to go on them.

“My position is that it's not a threat to jobs in Rosyth, it will support and enhance jobs in Rosyth.”

However, former Dunfermline MP Thomas Docherty, who is putting himself forward as a candidate for Holyrood, was against the move.

He said, “I've spoken to shop stewards at the dockyard, where Trident's Successor programme (replacing the Vanguard-class of ballistic missile submarines) is part of the programme of work post-aircraft carriers. If you take out that work, we need to set out what comes next.

“When the Tories closed Rosyth naval base in the 1990s, there were lots of warm words made by government about jobs, but those jobs were never replaced at the yard.

“As MP, my priority was always jobs in West Fife, and I was very clear that we need those jobs in this area. Warm words are nothing more than that.

“There are lots of other sites pushing for engineering contracts and if you scrap Successor, you need to say what work will come to the yard.”

GMB Scotland also raised concerns over jobs at other West Fife-based defence-related firms – including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and QinetiQ.

Slamming the vote as “Alice in Wonderland politics promising pie-in-the-sky jobs”, Gary Smith, the union's acting secretary, said, “GMB Scotland will not play politics on this and will stand up for our defence workers and their communities right across the UK.”

Raymond Duguid, Unite convenor at Babcock Marine, was “disappointed” at the stance taken by Scottish Labour and his own union, which backed the vote.

He said, “Unite's national policy and motion that was passed in 2010 and 2012 is very clear – we will support workers in the industry in Trident until alternative employment opportunities are available.

“I'm disappointed with the way this has gone and will be seeking clarify from Unite and officers on why Unite has taken this stance.

“It's more disappointing that Unite has a policy on this, so I don't understand why they've gone against that policy.”