A spelling error in the House of Commons calendar has mistakenly put SNP MPs down to argue for the renewal of the UK's nuclear weapons programme.
The staunchly anti-nuclear SNP wanted to use an opposition day debate to argue that Trident "should not be renewed", but a typo in the order of business, which sets out what MPs are due to discuss over the course of the week, means they're due to argue that Trident "should not be removed".
The SNP's 55 MPs, plus independent MP Michelle Thomson, intended to use the debate to argue for the scrapping of Trident. The debate would lead to a symbolic vote on the issue which is likely to cause disarray for a pro-renewal Labour party led by the anti-renewal Jeremy Corbyn.
The SNP confirmed it is working on getting the wording fixed in time for the debate so it can go ahead as originally planned.
Labour's sole MP in Scotland Ian Murray – one of the anti-renewal Labour parliamentarians – joked that the gaffe means he's now the "only Scottish MP" who opposes Trident.
It appears I'm now the only Scottish MP against Trident renewal #onemanband
However, a spokesperson for the SNP confirmed the party is still very much anti-Trident and that they have contacted the Commons to ensure the error is corrected before the debate.
"We can confirm that the SNP continues to support the removal of Trident nuclear weapons and oppose their renewal – and we are contacting Commons authorities so they correct their error," said the spokesperson.
"While people may find this error confusing, we hope they will not be equally confused by Labour's position on Tuesday – Labour MPs should join us in voting against spending £167 billion on a new generation of weapons of mass destruction."
UPDATE: The House of Commons has now corrected the error.
