UKC

Independence and SAR

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Dave 88 28 Feb 2014
Sorry if this has come up in another thrilling independence thread, there's a lot to sift through.

What is going to happen to SAR if Scotland votes for independence? Obviously the remaining RAF and Navy presence will either be already gone in favour of Bristow, or presumably withdrawn in the event of independence. Or, if Bristow is fully implemented by then, I'm guessing that contract has been arranged with the current UK government and so wouldn't stand in the event of independence, or at least the remaining UK government won't want to pay for part of the service which is no longer in their country. Would there be budget available in an independent Scotland, with a huge requirement for SAR (I would imagine the majority of the current Bristow SAR budget is allocated for operations in Scotland?).

Just seems quite low on the list of priorities compared to sorting out a currency etc (understandably), and something that could easily be overlooked.
 Jim Fraser 01 Mar 2014
In reply to Dave 88:

Countries working together on SAR, maritime safety and helicopter fleets is common and happens already between the UK and Eire amongst others.

The Irish lighthouse situation is another example of similar collaboration. (Having said that, another interpretation of the lighthouse situation is UK incompetence upon Irish independence.)

Norway and Iceland were recently working together on helicopter procurement although Iceland pulled out as part of their recent tight controls on government spending.
New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...