THE SNP will next week launch a major document highlighting the shortcomings of the UK Government’s Integrated Review (IR) of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

The report is due for public release on Tuesday and gives a detailed insight into the party’s approach toward issues, most of which remain reserved. Entitled “SNP Submission to the Integrated Review”, it argues that “the foreign and defence interests of Scotland have been long ignored by the UK Government”.

The submission identifies three key aspects with which the review offers the UK Government the chance to re-evaluate what security and defence means, including a more effective Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), a Resilient State and a modern armed forces.

In focusing its concerns, the SNP called for the creation of a FCDO capable of what it describes as “coherent policymaking that protects Scottish interests and is able to project our values abroad”.

Among the many issues addressed are upholding and protecting human rights, climate justice and Scotland’s relations with its Nordic neighbours.

Above all, it concentrates on what it identifies as the UK Government’s policymaking failure to “reflect the United Kingdom’s constitutional frameworks”.

It was the UK Government’s decision to postpone its planned multi-year comprehensive spending review (CSR) that has raised concerns about the implications for the Integrated Review.

Critics accuse the Tory Government of leaving policymaking in limbo and say that four years on from the decision to leave the EU, it has yet to clearly outline how it sees the UK’s role in the world once Brexit is completed.

Taking on board Scotland-specific concerns, the SNP’s submission document will only add to the pressure but is also being viewed as an insight into the extent to which the Scottish Government’s approach to such issues stand in marked contrast to that of its UK counterparts.