SCOTLAND’S Social Justice Secretary has admitted the Government has work to do to rebuild trust among pro-Palestine supporters – but stressed that key policies on the issue have not changed.
It comes as External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson once again apologised for his meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudksy during a policy discussion on international affairs at SNP conference.
He faced significant backlash following the meeting and later released a statement in which he said it “would not be appropriate to accept any invitation for a further meeting” with the Israeli government.
Pro-Palestine protesters have made their voices heard at SNP conference with demonstrations taking place outside the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Speaking to The National, Shirley-Anne Somerville was asked what her response to the protesters was, with some calling on Robertson to resign.
“It’s very clear that there’s hurt been caused by that meeting, Angus was right to apologise for the party he’s played in that,” she said.
Small but loud pro-Palestine protest outside the SNP conference calling for Angus Robertson to go because of his meeting earlier this month with the Israeli deputy ambassador@LBCNews @LBCNewsScot @LBC pic.twitter.com/xeKq94jaG3
— @GinaDavidson (@ginadavidsonlbc) September 1, 2024
“The one thing I’ve been resolute with my constituents on and those that are campaigning is that our policies have not changed in relation to Palestine.
“We remain firm in our resolution to support the Palestinian people, to end arms exports and to see that immediate ceasefire.”
Speaking to reporters at conference, Robertson stressed the Scottish Government’s position that they would not meet with Israel again “until a ceasefire is secured in Gaza”.
He has previously apologised for any impression which may have been created of a “normalisation of relations with Israel” and said that he would not be considering his position in the Cabinet.
Somerville (above) added: “Our policies have not changed, and they never will. These policies are solid, sound and have been our policies for some time.
“We will need a bit of time to regain that trust, but I hope they will see from our actions, that our resolve is absolute in standing with the Palestinian people.”
Tackling child poverty
Somerville is leading a session at SNP conference on child poverty on Sunday afternoon and said that while she acknowledged there is work to be done in Scotland, “you can only go so far” due to decisions taken in Westminster.
Figures released in March showed that 240,000 children in Scotland remained locked in poverty between 2020 and 2023, although this did not include the full impact of the roll out of the Scottish child payment.
The £25-a-week payment has previously been praised for helping to impact child poverty in Scotland.
Somerville said: “My utter frustration, and this ties into why I joined the SNP, is you can only go so far.
“We’re lifting them out and Westminster is pushing people into poverty whether it’s through the retention of the two-child cap or other policies – there's a clear difference in how we want to support people in our society.”
She added that her “door remains open” to work with the UK Government but that “we haven’t seen anything that demonstrates a change”.
It was previously reported that Chancellor Rachel Reeves had instructed departments to make billions of pounds of cuts in advance of the upcoming Budget.
The Cabinet Secretary further added: “I’ve met my counterparts down south and we agreed to have an open relationship and literally a couple of weeks later, we see the Winter Fuel Payment cut, and by default £100 million from the Scottish Government.
“You can have a meeting, you think you have the same end in mind, but not only do they make a policy decision that impacts on Scotland, but they do so, just like the Tories, without consultation.
“I’ll keep trying but they’ve had an opportunity, they’ve got another one in the Budget coming up. There’s going to be a review of Universal Credit – you don’t need that to know the two-child cap is an awful policy.”
Asked specifically about the upcoming Budget, Somerville said she was “concerned”.
“It’s a double whammy. They’re going to not make changes in reserved areas but also do things that cut our budgets to make it more difficult within our devolved areas.
“This doesn’t come as a surprise because John Swinney warned this would happen.”
No change with Labour
When it comes to independence, Somerville said she believes there is a “real opportunity” to demonstrate to people “the difference independence can make to their lives”.
“When we were on the doors, it was clear people wanted change and they saw that would come with Labour.
“They will now unfortunately have a period where it’s demonstrated you don’t get change.
“It’s our responsibility to demonstrate the difference independence can make to tackling child poverty, to employment services, to getting people into work.
“I am as determined as I’ve ever been to take this time to be able to show people that there’s the possibilities for independence, and they’ll come with that but not changing the UK Government.”
