THE Scottish Greens will push for the SNP Government to end funding for firms arming Israel in Budget negotiations.
It comes as John Swinney and his government need to find support from at least one of the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament if the Budget, which will be unveiled by Finance Secretary Shona Robison on December 4, is to pass.
Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer told The National that it’s an issue the party have pushed for a long time and it will “absolutely be put forward in negotiations”.
He stressed, however, that the government could also do it “at any time”.
Despite repeatedly speaking out in favour of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the Scottish Government has continued to hand public money to arms companies supplying Israel and profiting from the destruction.
Earlier this year, it was reported Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Leonardo had all received taxpayer-funded grants from Scottish Enterprise since Israel began its assault on Palestine after the Hamas attacks on October 7.
BAE was paid its grant – worth £360,000 – on April 4, just a day after then-first minister Humza Yousaf wrote to the UK Government calling for arms sales to be stopped.
The company helps make the F-35 fighter jet which Israel has used to bomb Gaza.
“We've been calling on the SNP to stop the enterprise grants for months now in the context of the ongoing genocide,” Greer said at the Scottish Greens conference in Greenock.
“They could decide tomorrow to stop issuing grants, and not just the companies involved in supplying arms and military equipment. They could and they should ban any company on the UN list of those complicit in illegal settlements from being able to receive a grant.”
The Green MSP (above) added: “We recognise that procurement law around contracts is quite challenging, and we'd really be pushing at the limits of devolution there. Though the Greens want to try.”
“These settlements are unquestionably a fundamental and grave breach of Palestinian human rights, and we've seen over recent months that, as well as the ongoing genocide in Gaza, there are thousands of Palestinians being murdered in the West Bank by illegal Israeli settlers – who we would refer to as terrorists – as well as by Israeli soldiers.”
Greer went on: “So we would actually want to go further than just the arms companies.
“We think it's obvious that the Scottish Government shouldn't be funding arms companies.
“That's always been a point of difference between us and the SNP. But we want to go further and actually ban any company who is complicit in the illegal occupation, not just in the military aspect of it.”
“We'll put it forward as part of budget discussions, but we've always been very clear with the SNP – it’s a decision that the Government can take any given day.”
