Scotland on front line in fight against Russia - MP

Scotland is a "frontline nation" in the fight against Russia, a Labour MP has said.

Graeme Downie, whose Dunfermline and Dollar constituency includes the former Royal Navy dockyard at Rosyth, told the BBC the country is under threat from Russia on a daily basis.

Russian vessels and jets have been spotted near Scottish waters and airspace in recent years, including in November when a Russian spy ship used lasers for the first time to disrupt RAF pilots tracking its activity in the north of the country.

His comments came on the day British armed forces boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker used to evade sanctions in the English Channel.

Speaking on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Downie said: "We saw the news this morning of UK forces engaged in the English Channel.

"I think what we need to understand in Scotland in particular is that we are a frontline nation in an ongoing conflict with Russia.

"We've got the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap that we see RAF jets from Lossiemouth taking off routinely to intercept.

"I think what we need to understand as a country is that we are under threat from Russia on a daily basis."

His comments came after a week of political turmoil for the Labour government, caused by the resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey.

Healey stood down Wednesday. In his resignation letter, he accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of failing to provide the money required to "defend the country at a time of rising threats".

Downing Street has said the government's defence investment plan (DIP) will still be published before the Nato summit next month.

Dan Jarvis replaced Healey as defence secretary and said the government must "meet the moment" when it comes to the challenge of increasing defence spending.

Downie said defence spending had to increase but added it was "an argument that we've got to win inside the party, inside government, to make sure that that happens and we've got the kind of capabilities that we need to defend the country".

He suggested his party had failed to persuade the UK public of the need to increase defence spending.

The MP said the funding of the pensions triple lock should be part of discussions about how to raise defence spending.

On the issue of whether the government should fund higher defence spending by slashing welfare, he said: "We will not strengthen the country by putting more people into poverty."

Downie said the UK government had made "some very good progress" on defence but admitted there had been "mistakes that have been playing out publicly".

Scotland plays a key role in the defence of the UK, as the home of the UK's nuclear submarine fleet since the 1960s.

The Royal Navy's four Vanguard-class submarines - each of which carry up to 16 Trident missiles - are based at Faslane on the Firth of Clyde.

The nuclear warheads are stored at the nearby Coulport armaments depot on Loch Long.

The UK's five nuclear-powered but conventionally armed Astute-class attack submarines are also based at Faslane.