A HUGE victory for peace was won yesterday when Scottish Labour members voted overwhelmingly to scrap Britain’s nuclear weapon.

Both the trade union and constituency Labour Party (CLPs) sections voted to reject Trident renewal by an overwhelming 70 per cent.

CND general secretary Kate Hudson called it “another nail in the coffin” for Trident and said it gave Jeremy Corbyn “an enormous mandate to lead the Labour Party in a new direction opposing nuclear weapons.”

Mr Corbyn hailed the vote as a “clear sign that Labour’s democracy has opened up.

“Scottish Labour Party members have spoken,” he said. “That will now feed into the wider UK Labour debate and review of defence policy.”

Glasgow Southside CLP delegate Stephen Low warned that Trident’s purpose was to “ultimately detonate a nuclear warhead above a city, killing everyone in its radius.”

Mr Low said that the nuclear weapons system was something “we do not need and cannot afford” and told conference that a country “where children rely on foodbanks” should have other priorities instead of spending a “bewildering” £100 billion renewing the Trident.

Addressing concerns about job losses in the industry, Mr Low said that Trident would cost 20-25 per cent of the overall defence budget and argued that Trident, which produced a small return in job creation for its cost, would only be renewed at the expense of other jobs in the defence industry.

However, acting regional secretary for GMB Scotland Gary Smith attacked defence diversification plans as “pie in the sky.”

Mr Smith argued that the motion failed to give any firm commitments about what these jobs would look like and what terms and conditions workers could expect.

And he vowed that GMB, which represents workers in the defence industry, would continue to “defend workers up and down this country whose jobs depend on the renewal of Trident.”

Jackie Baillie MSP echoed similar concerns, saying that up to 13,000 skilled jobs were at risk if Trident were to be scrapped, having a devastating impact on her local community.

However, Unite Scotland regional secretary Pat Rafferty, whose union also represents defence workers, called for conference to support the motion.

Mr Rafferty argued that ditching Trident must go “hand in hand” with diversification and argued that the billions spent in scrapping Trident could be put to this purpose.

He welcomed the motion’s clear commitment to a diversification programme, arguing that it must be “properly resourced and involve workers and their trade unions at the heart of discussions.”

The motion is now formal Scottish Labour policy and should automatically be included in the manifesto for next year’s Scottish Parliament elections because it won by more than two-thirds of the vote.

But leader Kezia Dugdale and much of her shadow cabinet are now out of step with the new position and they will ultimately decide what goes into the manifesto.

The new position will give Mr Corbyn further authority to press for the Westminster Labour Party to change its position.