THE Scottish Government has been urged to stop paying grants to an arms giant after the company posted record profits of £3 billion.
BAE Systems, which receives state funding, made bumper profits last year because of a defence spending spike fuelled by the crises in Ukraine and Gaza, with an order book worth £33.7bn.
But the firm has received thousands from taxpayers, in the form of grants paid by the state funding body Scottish Enterprise.
Greens MSP Lorna Slater said the defence giant’s profits showed the Scottish Government must stop supporting it financially.
She told The National: “We have to ask ourselves why, at a time of struggling public services, the Scottish Government is giving millions of pounds in grants to a company that’s doing £30bn in sales a year.
“This is a company that sells arms to states like Israel and Saudi Arabia. States that are engaged in the worst human rights atrocities. States that are creating humanitarian crises, killing journalists and bombing children.”
Slater (above) added: “Scotland can’t control everything, but we can control where our money goes.
“The Scottish Government must stop using it to fund arms companies, and instead use it to support people in Scotland.”
According to Amnesty International, BAE System’s shipbuilding arm received £9,600 from Scottish Enterprise in 2023 and £360,000 in the first half of 2024.
BAE Systems Surface Ships Ltd operates the two shipyards on the River Clyde at Scotstoun and Govan.
The Scottish Government has previously defended its support for the company, saying that the wholly-owned subsidiary is not involved with the manufacture of arms and that the cash goes towards research, training and apprenticeships.
A BAE Systems spokesperson said: “As part of a wider £300m commitment to shipbuilding on the Clyde, BAE Systems has invested in a new Applied Shipbuilding Academy, which opened last year.
"We welcome the additional funding from Scottish Enterprise which will support the ambition to attract, retain and develop the workforce of the future and both help secure the long-term viability of shipbuilding in Glasgow and provide an ongoing valued and significant contribution to the Scottish economy.”
A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise said: “Our role as Scotland’s national economic development agency is to support economic growth and create high-value jobs, and we’re working with BAE Systems to grow and develop its workforce with the aim of securing the long-term viability of shipbuilding on the River Clyde.
“Our support for defence companies is consistent with Scottish and UK Government policies, and we make it clear to those businesses, through legally binding contracts, that our help can only be used to deliver agreed projects in Scotland. None of the projects we support involve the manufacture of munitions or weaponry.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government and its enterprise and skills agencies do not provide funding for the manufacture of munitions.
“Support for defence sector companies is focused on helping firms to diversify their activities and technologies, ensuring Scotland continues to benefit from significant economic returns and thousands of jobs in the sector.
“Export licensing is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government continues to call for an end to all licences for arms exports from the United Kingdom to Israel.”
