AN industry body that represents multiple Israel-linked arms firms has increased its lobbying of MSPs.
The ADS Group lobbied Scottish politicians 22 times in 2024 so far (compared with just 7 meetings in 2022 and 11 in 2023) according to Holyrood’s lobbying register.
The organisation's Scotland arm includes the ADS Scotland council, which is led by senior executives from multiple multinationals active in selling arms to Israel, including Leonardo, Thales, Raytheon, and BAE Systems.
A full interactive list of MSPs who were lobbied by the group and the "purpose" is below:
Scottish Tory MSPs were lobbied the most by the group – including current and former leaders Russell Findlay and Douglas Ross.
Nine of the meetings appeared to coincide with the ADS Group’s controversial Holyrood reception on February 21 this year.
The most recent entry, meanwhile, was a meeting between the ADS Group and Scotland Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes on October 10 to discuss the industry’s “current priorities”.
Of note, the ADS group regularly complained about the “lack of support” for the arms industry.
In several meetings, the group also lobbied MSPs to highlight the “importance of supporting the aerospace and defence sectors more vocally and widely” as well as to “help change public perception”.
It comes as pro-Palestinian activists have regularly targeted the offices and factories of arms firms active in Scotland amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Scottish Tories, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Government have been approached for comment.
