THE Scottish Government has pledged to review its human rights checks on arms companies getting state support – after a Green bid to ban the practice failed.
The Scottish Greens forced a vote on the issue in Holyrood on Wednesday and while their motion failed, the SNP committed to looking at "due diligence" procedures around state-support for arms companies.
Speaking after the debate, Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said: "We welcome the SNP’s commitment to review the human rights checks that are applied, but it should not have taken our debate to make them do that.
“The new tests need to be far more robust than anything we have had to date, as no human rights check worthy of the name would allow grants to companies that are complicit in genocide.”
Slater told MSPs that Scottish Enterprise had given £8 million to 13 companies involved in weapons manufacture since 2019.
Figures released by the agency in 2022 showed funding of £1.1m to Thales UK and £600,000 to Raytheon Systems in 2021-22.
Slater said that the Scottish Government “must put its money where its mouth is and stand up for human rights” by ending its support for weapons firms.
Blasting the Scottish Government’s “inadequate” human rights checks on companies it funds, the Greens co-leader added: “If companies that are arming war crimes are not beyond the pale, then who is?”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes (above) said that the Scottish Government did “not believe that public funding should be spent on the manufacture of weapons or munitions”.
She conceded that the Scottish Government would “review and ensure" that the most robust processes are in place "with regards to products’ end use”, as the Greens called for in their motion.
The SNP backed Labour’s amendment to the Greens’ motion, calling for “Scottish Enterprise to review its human rights due diligence checks” to take account of where products end up and that the companies are compliant with international law and export rules in the UK.
Despite making 199 human rights checks between 2021 and 2023, no firm failed Scottish Enterprise’s “due diligence” investigations, leading to claims the system “isn’t fit for purpose”.
Former first minister Humza Yousaf said that “not a penny of public funding should be going to arms companies” which sell weapons to Israel.
Former Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said that the number of arms the UK sold to Israel was “minuscule”, adding: “And yet, Mr [Ross] Greer on a megaphone, encouraging people to shout: ‘Jackson Carlaw, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide’.”
Greer was last year referred to the standards watchdog after leading a protest against a reception for the arms trade hosted by Carlaw (above) in the Scottish Parliament.
One of the firms in receipt of funding is BAE Systems, which gets support for its shipbuilding apprenticeship schemes. Labour’s Paul Sweeney warned that the Greens “should be careful not to demonise shipyard workers”.
Tory MSP Jamie Greene drew jeers when he compared calls for sanctions against Israel to the antisemitism of Germany in the 1930s which culminated in the Holocaust.
Neil Cowan, Scotland programme director at Amnesty International, welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to review human rights checks for companies getting state support.
He said: “It has long been clear that, with no company ever failing one of the checks, they are not credible and require overhaul.
“It is now essential that the Scottish Government sets out what that review will involve, with it being critical that it includes independent input, review and analysis, and that it is focused on meeting Scotland’s international obligations.”
Following the vote, Slater (above) said: “The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is one of the worst in the world, and this was an opportunity for our parliament to take concrete steps to ensure that Scotland is playing no part in it. It is deeply disappointing that the SNP chose to block action.
“The Scottish Government is right to support a ceasefire in Gaza, but it is simply hypocritical for it to continue backing companies who are enabling and profiting from the atrocities that have been inflicted by Israeli forces.
“When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Scottish Government rightly took action against companies who were supporting Putin and his war machine, with measures that went far further than arms companies. It is time for them to do the same for Israel.
“Not a penny of public money should be given to companies that are profiting from genocide or war crimes whether they are being carried out by Russian forces or by Israel."
