Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Arms firms supplying Israel have continued to receive taxpayers’ money from the Scottish Government despite allegations of genocide in Gaza, prompting criticism its human rights due diligence is “not fit for purpose”.
In correspondence to Scottish Enterprise, seen by The Ferret, Amnesty International said it was “astonishing” that companies supplying Israel had still received funding from the Scottish Government’s investment agency amidst claims of war crimes.
Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in a report last December. It wrote to Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government’s business agency, after a freedom of information request revealed that between January 2022 and April 2025, only four human rights checks were completed by the public body on two companies within the defence sector – Babcock Marine and BAE Systems.
Yet The Ferret found that since January 2022, Scottish Enterprise has collectively given arms firms linked to Israel (Raytheon, Thales and Leonardo) at least £2,746,000.
In reply to Amnesty’s concerns, Scottish Enterprise told The Ferret it had invited the human rights organisation to a meeting.
A new due diligence procedure was introduced by Scottish Enterprise in March 2019, following criticism of the public body for funding arms firms linked to countries with poor human rights records.
Its due diligence checks include assessing whether a company has been “associated with human rights abuses anywhere in the world”.
In 2023, however, The Ferret revealed that hundreds of checks had been made on companies seeking grants from the public body, but no firm had failed, despite some having links to states accused of war crimes, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year, as Israel’s attack on Gaza continued, the Scottish Government promised to review Scottish Enterprise’s human rights checks in response to further criticism.
I hope you can understand why Amnesty is seriously concerned to learn that checks are not performed on a company for such lengthy periods, and that developments such as the ongoing genocide in Gaza do not, at the very least, trigger a process by which Scottish Enterprise would renew a check.
Neil Cowan, Amnesty International UK Scotland director.
Now, Amnesty International has written to the public body seeking input into the review after it emerged US arms giant Raytheon was given £500,000 in 2024, months after Israel began its ground invasion in Gaza following the 2023 attack by Hamas.
Part of the grant was paid, Amnesty said, after the International Court of Justice made its interim ruling on claims of genocide in Gaza. In January 2023, the court stated “there is a real and imminent risk that irreparable prejudice” will be caused to the rights of Palestinians in Gaza under the genocide convention.
It could take years for the court to rule on whether Israel has committed genocide.
Israel strongly denies allegations of genocide.
In a letter to Scottish Enterprise on 10 June 2025, Neil Cowan, Amnesty International’s Scotland director, wrote: “Based on the information disclosed it appears that the Raytheon grant was awarded without a human rights due diligence process being undertaken or revisited in light of developments internationally. Can you please confirm whether that is accurate? If a check was undertaken can you please confirm when?”
In response, Scottish Enterprise chief executive, Adrian Gillespie, said in a letter the agency funds projects delivered over more than one year. After funding is contracted, he explained, payments are made in stages as companies “meet agreed milestones and provide evidence of expenditure”. This, he stated, helps to ensure public funds are used appropriately.
In the case of Raytheon, Gillespie added, the project funding was authorised and contracted in 2022, and payments were made over time as conditions were met. He wrote: “At the time of contracting, a valid HRDD (human rights due diligence) check from 2019 was still in effect, so no new check was required under our current procedure, which requires checks every three years.” Gillespie also confirmed that Scottish Enterprise’s human rights due diligence is under review and that an update will be provided to the Scottish Parliament in due course
Cowan replied to Gillespie on 20 June, to say Amnesty International is “seriously concerned” to learn that “checks are not performed on a company for such lengthy periods”, and that developments such as the “ongoing genocide in Gaza do not, at the very least, trigger a process” by which Scottish Enterprise would renew a check.
He added: “Raytheon is a company known to supply Israel. It is astonishing that, months into Israel’s assault on Gaza no review of Raytheon’s 2019 check was triggered. If information in the public domain is correct, at least part of the grant in question was paid in February 2024, after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found plausible risk that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Unfortunately this appears to be just one example of a company linked to a state accused of war crimes escaping appropriate scrutiny by Scottish Enterprise.”
We are in correspondence with Mr Cowan, who has accepted our invitation to meet and we plan to discuss with him the work underway to enhance our human rights due diligence process.
A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise.
Cowan also pointed out that freedom of information disclosures to Amnesty revealed that Leonardo, a company known to produce F35 (fighter jet) components, also received a grant in October 2023 after Israel began bombing Gaza. “Again no due diligence process was revisited prior to that payment being made,” he said.
Billy Briggs
Scottish Enterprise told The Ferret: “We are in correspondence with Mr Cowan, who has accepted our invitation to meet and we plan to discuss with him the work underway to enhance our human rights due diligence process.”
Israel’s assault on Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. This triggered a massive Israeli response, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, including many women and children.
In April last year, some 600 British lawyers including four former Supreme Court justices, signed a letter to the UK Prime Minister, asking him to stop arms sales to Israel and referring to “a plausible risk of genocide”.
A counter-letter from UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI) said the ICJ had only ruled that Gaza Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide.
Leonardo, Raytheon and Thales have been asked to comment.
Featured photo credit: IStock and Emanuel Acosta
Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Footage of farmed trout suffocating, haemorrhaging, and being beaten with batons in a slaughterhouse has prompted an official complaint to a government regulator.
