THE First Minister has said that he is looking at a “whole range of measures” to take against Israel amid its genocide in Gaza.
Speaking exclusively to The National at Bute House – with the full interview to be released tomorrow (Tuesday) in both article and video format – John Swinney said that, for example, ending public grants for arms firms supplying Israel is an “area we are, of course, looking at”.
It comes after the Scottish Government revealed in a statement last week that it is considering a full state boycott of Israel.
It was in response to a letter from Scottish Greens leadership contender Ross Greer, who asked Swinney last Thursday to adopt the principles of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to put pressure on the Israeli economy in the mould of the anti-apartheid boycott of South Africa.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said ministers would “consider” the proposal, which would see official guidance issued to businesses urging them to end trade with Israel, as was done with Russia in 2022.
Asked to elaborate on what exactly is being considered, the First Minister said: “What I'm looking at is a whole range of different measures.”
He added: “To fulfil what I consider to be essential, which is that I've got to explore every possible avenue I can take to ensure that we are doing all that we can to make our voice heard on the issue of Gaza and to make sure that we take all the practical steps that we can possibly take.”
The First Minister wasn’t keen on getting drawn into specifics but did say that ending public grants for arms firms supplying Israel is an “area we are, of course, looking at”.
The Scottish Government has come under mounting scrutiny over the public money it has continuously provided for these companies.
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.
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.
A review in June concluded that despite funding the manufacturer of parts for F-35s and other military technology, Scottish Enterprise have never funded munitions.
When asked about this funding, Swinney made the same argument around munitions.
“We won't support the production of munitions. That's our hard line. And we get criticised for taking that hard line, and I'm very confident that hard line is applied,” he said.
The First Minister was then pressed on the argument that any funding – even if ring-fenced by the Scottish Government – will directly help a company's cash flow and could, hypothetically, free up money to be used elsewhere, including in the building of munitions.
“I understand that point. But there are also defence requirements of Scotland. Scotland is part of an island nation. We require, for example, shipbuilding resources to support the maritime defense of the United Kingdom because nobody wants to see us vulnerable to an attack from Russia. I certainly don't want to,” he responded.
“We're living in a world where that's now much more of a relevant factor than it's perhaps been at any other stage in my life. So, I want to be as helpful as I possibly can here and to be as robust as I possibly can be, because I want to do nothing, absolutely nothing, that in any way assists Israel to be able to carry on doing what they're doing, because I am disgusted and appalled by what Israel are doing."
He added: "It is beyond comprehension, but there are complex arguments that have to be worked through to make sure we can take a robust stance, but I give you the assurance that we are doing everything we possibly can do and exploring every possible avenue to maximise the effectiveness.”
The full exclusive interview with John Swinney will be published online and in tomorrow’s print newspaper (Tuesday) and all over social media – including a full-length video recording on YouTube.
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