THOMAS Kerr’s attack on the Scottish Government for providing humanitarian funding for Palestine has been branded “small-minded racism”.
The Reform UK Scotland deputy leader lodged a Holyrood motion on July 28 criticising the £500,000 announced by the Scottish Government and called for all overseas funding to “cease”.
The Glasgow region MSP said that “every available pound” should be spent in Scotland instead.
The funding announced earlier this week – which will support the delivery of healthcare, clean water, food, shelter, education and protection services – is in addition to £600,000 already provided last year that has assisted approximately 2.4 million people across Gaza and the West Bank.
The IPC declared a famine in the Gaza City area from August 22 last year. More than 69,000 people have died and 170,000 people injured in Gaza since October 2023, following the Hamas attack on Israel.
The Red Cross has described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” despite the ceasefire agreed in October 2025.
Scottish Greens MSP Kate Nevens told the Sunday National that Kerr’s comments are “utterly shameful” and "embarrassing".
Kerr’s motion, supported by eight other Reform MSPs, is titled “Ensuring Scotland's taxpayers' money supports Scotland's public services”.
It says that “at a time when Scotland's NHS, local authorities, transport network and other vital public services face what it considers to be significant financial pressures, the Scottish Government's priority should be to invest every available pound in improving services for the people of Scotland”.
Kerr also states that as international relations are reserved to Westminster and “the provision of overseas aid is primarily the responsibility of the UK Government,” the Scottish Government should “cease using devolved budgets for overseas aid and instead focus exclusively on delivering high-quality public services and value for taxpayers”.
Reform MSPs Max Bannerman, Senga Beresford, Victor Currie, Amanda Lindsay, Julie MacDougall, Duncan Massey, Kim Schmulian, and David Smith all signed in support of the motion.
Nevens, the Scottish Greens international development spokesperson, said: “The money to Palestine will provide food, medicine and shelter to people enduring a horrific genocide.
“This kind of support is incredibly important, and we know that huge swathes of people in Scotland are keen to support Palestinians in this way.
“Thomas Kerr’s attack on this life-saving support is as utterly shameful as it is embarrassing. It does not represent the people of Scotland – most of us have no desire to turn our backs on people facing starvation, displacement and bombardment.
“In Gaza, pregnant women have been forced to give birth without adequate medical care, mothers have watched their children starve, and families have been displaced without food, water or shelter.
“For Thomas Kerr to make their suffering the subject of a cheap political stunt is exactly the kind of small-minded racism and morally bankrupt worldview we’ve come to expect from him.”
Nevens accused Reform politicians of “staggering hypocrisy” by complaining about money “crossing international borders” while their leader Nigel Farage is under investigation for a £5 million gift from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire.
“That’s 10 times the humanitarian funding Kerr is complaining about,” she added.
“And rather than face scrutiny, Farage has triggered a circus of a by-election, being held to account by a man wearing a bin on his head, while his puppets in Scotland cry about helping some of the most deprived people on the planet.”
None of the major parties have stood a candidate in the Clacton by-election, with Farage’s main competitor being joke candidate Count Binface.
Reform UK Scotland have been contacted for comment.
In September last year, the Scottish Parliament passed a motion calling for an immediate boycott of Israel. We later revealed that no briefing notes were prepared for ministers following the vote.
The Scottish Government has come under repeated criticism from the Greens, who proposed the package of boycott, divestment and sanctions targeted at the state of Israel, which was backed by MSPs, for not implementing the vote.
It comes as Israeli authorities have been blocking UNRWA from directly bringing humanitarian personnel and aid into the Gaza Strip since March last year. The agency said this meant it was “unable to distribute the aid it had pre-positioned outside Gaza, which included enough food parcels, flour, and shelter supplies for hundreds of thousands of people”.
The Greens criticised the Scottish Government for attending the Farnborough Airshow alongside Elbit Systems and other arms firms, as reported by the Ferret last week.
“Humanitarian aid cannot become conscience money while government agencies continue courting those profiting from genocide,” Nevens added.
“Scotland cannot help Israel’s victims with one hand while shaking hands with its arms dealers with the other.
“Holyrood should be unanimous and unequivocal in its solidarity with Palestine, and the Scottish Government must not give an inch to Reform’s racist politics, and follow through on the instruction our Parliament gave it, and cut all ties with Israel.”
