That Wigley Trident interview - the transcript

Lord Wigley has apologised for any offence his comments have caused

Here's a transcript of Lord Wigley's interview with my colleague Ross Hawkins.

Lord Wigley: Plaid Cymru has always been opposed to nuclear weapons, we are opposed to Trident, we had a motion in the House on that and we forced a vote and the idea that Trident is moved from Scotland to Wales, because of the strength of the SNP in Scotland and we admire the way they have gotten Trident onto the agenda, but to locate it in Wales is totally unacceptable as far as we are concerned and we will do everything in our power to stop it happening.

Ross: And this is something about which there is a good deal of passion within your party?

Lord Wigley: Certainly, we've been opposed to nuclear weapons all down the years, we can't see any possible justification in having them, nobody in their right minds would use them as the first weapon of strike and if another country is attacking us with nuclear weapons, what satisfaction does it give that we can obliterate as many millions of people in their countries by firing back, The thing is immoral, it's impractical, it's not an effective deterrent against people like ISIS and it is a waste of money.

Ross: But it would bring a great deal of employment to an area where employment is a struggle at Milford Haven.

Lord Wigley: Look, this week we have been remembering what happened in Germany before the war, no doubt there were many jobs provided in Auschwitz and places like that but that didn't justify their existence and neither does nuclear weapons justify having them in Pembrokeshire.

Ross: Are you seriously comparing a Trident base to a Nazi death camp?

Lord Wigley: The number of people that will be killed by Trident will be infinitely more.

Ross: So you think that is a valid comparison, to compare the prospect of a Trident base in Milford Haven with Auschwitz?

Lord Wigley: The point I'm making is that you have to look at what a job entails not just the fact that there is a job located in any particular area and, in this instance, we do not believe that we should have nuclear weapons at all, we believe that Trident shouldn't be renewed and we most certainly don't want that renewal to happen in Pembrokeshire or anywhere in Wales or, to be fair, anywhere in Britain.

Ross: And you think there is a moral comparison between working on one of those Trident bases, the staff, the people, the Scots who work on the Trident base and those who worked at the Nazi death camps?

Lord Wigley: No, the point I was making was this, that you have to consider the nature of the work and not just that a job exists.

Ross thanks Lord Wigley and the interview ends. Plaid's election co-ordinator has since issued this statement: "I am certainly sorry if my remarks were open to any misinterpretation and I apologise for any offence that has been caused. The point I was trying to make was that you can't have jobs at any cost and I reiterate that."

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said: "Dafydd Wigley has apologised for his remarks and for any offence that they caused."