ECONOMY Secretary Stephen Flynn has been urged to intervene amid concerns that a Scottish Government agency may still be funding weapons companies linked to Israel’s violations of international law despite a supposed ban.
Amnesty International called for action from the SNP Cabinet Secretary after Scottish Enterprise (SE) – an arms-length government body tasked with investing for economic development – “refused to publish key information” on how it ensures funding for arms firms does not contribute to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
SE was forced to review its human rights due diligence procedures last year after it emerged that no business applying for support had ever failed a human rights check, despite millions of pounds being paid to companies linked to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Now, following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the agency has declined to publish the revised guidance or provide information about how it is enforcing a ban on companies linked to Israel receiving new grants.
The ban was announced by First Minister John Swinney in September 2025, who said: "We will pause new awards of public money to arms companies whose products or services are provided to countries where there is plausible evidence of genocide being committed by that country. That will include Israel."
A letter sent by Amnesty to Economy Secretary Flynn asks for the Government to intervene to make it clear how this ban “is being implemented in practice”.
“Without such transparency, it is impossible for Parliament, civil society organisations and the wider public to assess whether the safeguards announced by the Scottish Government are operating effectively,” the letter states.
Neil Cowan, Amnesty International’s Scotland director, said: “SE’s steadfast refusal to publish information that is so clearly in the public interest should ring alarm bells.
“Amnesty’s research revealed that, as genocide was unfolding in Gaza, SE continued to provide millions of pounds in funding to companies linked to Israel, while no new human rights checks were carried out.
“We and others had to push relentlessly to secure a review of the human rights guidance that remained in place until June 2025. An independent analysis commissioned by Amnesty found that guidance to be wholly inadequate and applied in a haphazard manner.
“Last September, the First Minister announced further measures, including a block on companies involved in Israel receiving new grants. Yet on neither of these issues is Scottish Enterprise willing to publish evidence that its commitments have been honoured and implemented.
“The question of whether Scotland is risking complicity in genocide could hardly be more serious or more urgent. The Economy Secretary must intervene.”
Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie said: “The Government has to uphold their own public commitments to protect human rights internationally, yet their own business funding and grants arm won’t divulge how they are implementing the guidance or ban on companies linked to Israel that the Scottish Government committed to through Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions measures tabled by Scottish Greens last year.
“It is morally right and crucial for the Scottish Government to be transparent about where public money is being spent. For as long as there is a lack of transparency, it can only be assumed that Scotland remains complicit in genocide through millions of pounds of funding to Israel-linked companies, unless proven otherwise.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The measures announced by the First Minister in September 2025 in response to the worsening situation in Gaza were implemented immediately across government and its agencies.
“The Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies support Scotland’s defence sector, which is fundamental to national security and a key driver of high-quality jobs, our future workforce and economic growth.”
A Scottish Enterprise (SE) spokesperson said: “Transparency is important to SE and information is only withheld where strictly necessary in accordance with FOI legislation. This is evidenced by the majority of FOI requests received by SE being responded to in full.
“We have worked collaboratively with the Scottish Government to develop our Human Rights Due Diligence approach and implement the new policy set out by Scotland’s First Minister on September 3 2025, ensuring our work delivers on government policy intent.”
The news comes after the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory concluded that the Israeli government had deliberately targeted children as part of an ongoing genocide in Palestine.
The UN inquiry stated: “Based on the evidence reviewed, and consistent with its previous reports, the Commission finds on reasonable grounds that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have continued to commit the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
In September 2025, the UN commission – then led by former president of the Rwanda genocide international tribunal Navi Pillay – concluded that Israel had committed four of the five “genocidal acts” defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
