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The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
SNP must give up pretence weapons firms aren't arming Israel
We see the devastation every day on social media – the flattened homes, the murdered children, the hospitals turned to rubble. While Scotland is thousands of miles away from this daily death and destruction, we have important questions to ask our own Governments about their complicity in this escalating conflict. Labour's UK Government has armed Israel. It has even trained its military forces. It has refused to challenge Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. READ MORE: Patrick Harvie and Angus Robertson face-off as tensions rise over Israel divestment Its response has done nothing but encourage the escalation of violence in the Middle East, from its ongoing material support for Israel's daily atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank, to the political cover it is now providing Israel and the US as they intensify the conflict in Iran. The SNP have been right to call out Westminster's disgraceful complicity in Israel's war crimes. But, despite this, the Scottish Government has continued to give public money to companies which are arming Israel. This paper exposed that since 2019, Scottish Enterprise has awarded at least £8 million in public grants to arms manufacturers. And more recent research from Amnesty International found that between January 2022 and April 2025, Scottish Enterprise gave almost £2.75m to firms which have been arming Israel. That includes Leonardo, which produces the laser targeting systems for Israeli fighter jets, and Raytheon, whose smart bombs have helped level whole city blocks in Gaza. Entire cities in Gaza have been levelled by Israeli bombsThese aren't just abstract names on an export list, they are companies producing tools of death, and our money is helping them do it. The companies profiting from this assault on Gaza – one which leading human rights experts, including Amnesty International, have described as a genocide – are embedded in our economy. This should not be happening. In 2019, the Scottish Government – after pressure from the Scottish Greens – committed that all Scottish public bodies would conduct human rights checks on companies, including arms manufacturers, prior to funding them. These due diligence checks look at a number of things – including whether a company has been associated with human rights abuses anywhere in the world. READ MORE: 'Isn't it telling?': John Swinney rips into Anas Sarwar on benefit cuts But no company has ever failed the checks undertaken by Scottish Enterprise, despite clear evidence that companies like Raytheon and Leonardo are arming Israel's war. These human rights checks are clearly not fit for purposes. In February, we forced the Government to review these human rights checks. For months, we pushed for a progress update. We demanded answers before the summer. Earlier this week, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes finally updated Parliament on the review. She claimed that Scottish Enterprise's internal assessment of past practice found no evidence that grant money has gone towards the manufacturing of munitions. The SNP are right not to use public money to pay for the production of munitions in Scotland. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire) But exactly how many degrees of separation does the Scottish Government want before it finally acknowledges complicity? If you contribute towards building a bigger bomb factory, you don't get to say that you haven't funded the production of the bombs. The truth is that Scottish Government funds are still going to the manufacturers of weapons and military technology used by Israel to inflict unimaginable harms on Palestinians. The Scottish Greens have always been clear. Companies that are arming Israel's assault on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank should never receive public funding. Our money should never be used to boost the profits and profiles of arms companies that are happy to fuel genocide and war crimes. READ MORE: Which protests will the UK state declare unacceptable next? Let's stop pretending we don't know where our money ends up and who's enjoying the spoils. The evidence is there. We may not have the power to halt the UK's arms sales or change its foreign policy. But we do have the power to decide where our own public funds go. And we must use that power responsibly. The Scottish Government can't have it both ways. Ministers can't call on the UK Government to halt arms exports to Israel while simultaneously handing money to the very firms that make those weapons. The people of Scotland deserve better. The Scottish public has a proud tradition of opposing war, standing for peace, and defending human rights. Let's not tarnish that legacy by turning a blind eye when it matters most.
Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Times
John Swinney hints at major U-turn on SNP munitions ban
The SNP may drop its ban on using taxpayers' cash to support munitions projects due to threats posed by nations like Russia, John Swinney has said. The first minister told a recording of the podcast Holyrood Sources that his party's long-standing position 'can be reconsidered' in a notable shift which seemed to be paving the way for a U-turn. The Scottish government has come under significant pressure and been accused of playing 'student politics' over a policy that means taxpayer support cannot be granted to support the 'manufacture of munitions'. The Times revealed last month that Scottish Enterprise, the economic development agency, had refused to support plans for a new specialist welding centre due to fears it could be used to support the building of Royal Navy attack submarines.
The National
25-06-2025
- Science
- The National
Capercaillie numbers double in parts of Scotland, study finds
With just over 500 of the ground-nesting birds left in the wild, the capercaillie, a large woodland grouse, is in danger of extinction in the UK. One contributor to the birds' decline is the eating of eggs and chicks by predators – including the pine marten, another protected species. READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says In an effort to protect capercaillie broods while not harming the predators themselves, researchers at the University of St Andrews used a 'diversionary feeding' scheme to give predators an easy alternative food to capercaillie nests. The study, which was carried out in and around the Cairngorms National Park over three years, saw researchers leave out deer carrion for predators at the 'critical' eight-week period when capercaillie are nesting and hatching. The result, as captured on camera traps, was a doubling of the number of broods in areas where alternative food was available, with 85% of monitored capercaillie having chicks in these areas, compared with just 37% in 'unfed' sites. The study team said this equated to an increase in the number of chicks per hen from 0.82 chicks per hen without feeding to 1.90 with feeding – an increase in capercaillie productivity of 130%. (Image: Jack Bamber / St Andrews University) Dr Jack Bamber, from the University of Aberdeen, said 'This study provides compelling, robust, landscape-scale evidence that diversionary feeding can reduce the impact of recovering predators, without killing them, aligning with shifting ethical and ecological goals for conservation management in the UK. 'The combination of rigorous experimentation and innovative monitoring indicates that this method is worth exploration for other species vulnerable to predation, with land managers concerned with other rare prey, and land managers aiming to help capercaillie elsewhere in Europe already considering this tool as an option for them to trial and apply in future.' The team said the study confirmed that the boost in chicks per hen was directly linked to a higher chance that a hen had a brood at all, indicating, they said, that diversionary feeding reduces catastrophic brood failure often caused by nests being raided by predators. READ MORE: Scottish city's economy outperforms London's for first time Diversionary feeding is now endorsed in the Cairngorms Capercaillie Emergency Action Plan, with 18 independent land holdings using the method to help the endangered bird in 2025. Dr Chris Sutherland from the Centre for Research into Ecology and Environmental Modelling at the University of St Andrews said: 'This project is an excellent example of how the impact of research can be maximised when it is co-designed in close collaboration with the wildlife managers and policy makers. 'Doing so enabled us to deliver timely decision-ready evidence underpinned by scientific and statistical rigour'. The findings build on earlier results from an artificial-nest study published in 2024 that found a 50% reduction in pine marten predation, as a result of diversionary feeding, led to a nearly 83% increase in artificial nest survival. The project was a partnership between the University of St Andrews, the University of Aberdeen, Forestry and Land Scotland, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot and Wildland Ltd working under the umbrella of the Cairngorms Connect Predator Project. It was funded by the Scottish Universities Partnership for Environmental Research Doctoral Training Partnership, and the findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The National
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Mark Rutte calls Donald Trump 'Daddy' during Nato press conference
As allied leaders gathered in the Netherlands for a historic summit that could unite them around a new defence spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 member countries, the pair held a press conference in which Trump compared Israel and Iran to "kids fighting" and Rutte called Trump "Daddy". Trump said: "They are not going to be fighting each other, they've had it. They've had a big fight, like two kids in a school yard. They fight like hell, you can't stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes, then it's easier to stop them." Rutte responds with, "then Daddy has to sometimes use strong language," and laughs. READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says Trump previously said Israel and Iran "don't know what the f**k they're doing". The exchange came after the US president, while flying aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague, published a screenshot of a private message from Rutte saying: 'Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieved something NO American president in decades could get done.'
The National
25-06-2025
- Business
- The National
Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms
A review into these grants to arms firms has concluded, with the Greens calling the outcome "shameful". In February and under pressure from Amnesty International, within the SNP, and the Greens, Forbes told MSPs that a review would be launched of public funding given to weapons companies that supply Israel. The government agency Scottish Enterprise (SE) has given £8 million to 13 companies involved in weapons manufacturing since 2019 – although the SNP Government maintains that the funding doesn't go directly to the production of munitions and that 'due diligence' checks are thorough. READ MORE: MPs slam 'flat-footed' Government effort to recover £1.9bn in Covid loan fraud However, that has been called into question given that, of the 199 human rights checks between 2021 and 2023, no firm ever failed. Pressure has also built around arms firms' links to Israel, which is accused of conducting a genocide in Gaza. Forbes said in February that the Scottish Government did 'not believe that public funding should be spent on the manufacture of weapons or munitions' and that it would 'review and ensure" the most robust processes are in place for funding given to weapons companies. The review has now concluded that despite funding the manufacturer of parts for F-35s and other military technology, Scottish Enterprise have never funded munitions. Reacting to the review, Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater MSP said: 'I am honestly shocked at this outcome, the SNP have been right to call out Westminster's disgraceful complicity in Israel's war crimes but when it came to taking action here in Scotland the SNP have shamefully chosen the future of war profiteers over the lives of innocent Palestinians. 'Not a single penny of public money should be spent on funding arms companies that are profiting from war crimes and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank." She added: 'This decision shows that the SNP not only know about their funding of Israel's arms dealers, but they are happy to green light future deals! 'The SNP have been happy to talk the talk when it comes to rightly condemning Labour's bloody hands in this conflict, but when it really counted they've done nothing but try to sweep their continued funding of these arms dealers under the rug. 'We cannot sit back and continue to allow Scottish tax payers money to be spent on funding war profiteers. Scottish Greens will continue our fight to end Scotland's complicity in Israel's genocide.'
