The UK Government has been warned it has “less than a week to save its long-term defence relationship with the EU” by securing access to a £150 billion European security and defence programme.

The SNP says failure to sign up to the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) military programme before the November 30 deadline in five days' time risks shutting Scottish and UK defence firms out of a major funding stream for procurement, joint projects and EU-backed loans.

Without access to SAFE, the SNP has said there would be fear that Scotland's defence industry will be "increasingly isolated" from Europe and will be left "more exposed" to "malign threats".

The warning comes amid mounting concern across Europe over Donald Trump 's administration's approach to the territorial integrity o

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