Last September Holyrood voted for sanctions against Israel due to the genocide in Gaza. This week the government was in England promoting arms dealers who sell products to Israel’s military.
The company that runs Scotland’s ageing nuclear power station wants to weaken safety standards to keep it running for at least four more years. But the nuclear safety watchdog has its doubts.
Posters appeared on social media purporting to be from the local authority, but they are fake.
Last September Holyrood voted for sanctions against Israel due to the genocide in Gaza. This week the government was in England promoting arms dealers who sell products to Israel’s military.
The Scottish Government has been accused of courting “genocide-profiteers” less than a year after Holyrood voted to boycott Israel and companies who supply its military.
‘Team Scotland’ - as the coalition of government officials and quangos dubbed itself – attended the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire this week, alongside arms firms allegedly “complicit in the Israeli genocide in Palestine” and states accused of internal repression.
Farnborough is renowned for its spectacular flying displays but it is also a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, including those selling weapons used in current international conflicts.
Over 50 countries and territories were expected to attend this week including nations with poor human rights records like Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Dozens of groups called for it to be boycotted due to concerns over human rights.
You don’t get stories like this elsewhere
The Ferret publishes investigations that go beyond the daily news cycle, dig deeper, and ask difficult questions. Help us stay independent.
Campaign Against Arms Trade criticised the government’s presence at Farnborough, claiming Scotland needed “more than bold progressive statements to the public one day then quiet handshakes and dealings with death merchants the next”.
In reply the Scottish Government said it has consistently called for peace in Gaza but that supporting the defence industry is important to protect jobs, the economy and national security.
The Scottish Government and business agencies Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise were in Farnborough under the banner of ‘Team Scotland’.
Officials attended despite MSPs voting last September to “immediately impose a package of boycotts, divestment and sanctions” on Israel and companies allegedly “complicit in its military operations and its occupation of Palestine.”
Most members of the current Scottish Government supported the motion, put forward by former SNP MSP and minister Angus Robertson. He controversially met an Israeli diplomat as external affairs secretary in 2024 while Gaza was bombed, to discuss Scotland as a destination for Israeli businesses.
Paul Dobson
The event at Farnborough, which takes place every two years, featured over 1,000 companies including some whose products have been used in attacks in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, as well as Gaza and the West Bank.
Exhibitors included Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company. Farnborough’s principal sponsor, Barclays, is a primary dealer of Israeli government bonds and it also invests or lends to companies involved in supplying weapons to Israel, including BAE Systems.
Other arms firms represented included the Italian multinational, Leonardo, and US firms Lockheed Martin and RTX Raytheon. They all have operations in Scotland and contribute to the F-35 fighter jet which has been dubbed the “genocide jet” by critics for its role for Israel in Gaza.
Angus Robertson’s motion last year called on the Scottish and UK governments to impose a “package of boycotts, divestment and sanctions” targeted at Israel and companies “complicit in its military operations and its occupation of Palestine”.
It also called on the Scottish Government to update parliament on the “due diligence checks carried out by Scottish Enterprise during investment decision processes to ensure that defence products are not used in breaches of humanitarian law in Gaza or elsewhere”.
“The rhetoric is there, but the action is not. Our commitment to human rights has to mean more than speeches and carefully worded statements.” — Patrick Harvie MSP, Scottish Greens
65 MSPs out of 129 voted in favour of the motion, including first minister John Swinney, while 24 opposed it.
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) spokesperson Emma Cockburn accused the government of “empty promises” and said: “While hiding under the banner of ‘Team Scotland’ the Scottish government and Scottish Enterprise have completely disregarded the campaign to boycott this event to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
She added: “With so few actionable steps taken by the new Scottish government on its boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) commitments it’s not surprising to see them rubbing shoulders with the likes of BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin within the safe confines of the Farnborough Horror Show.”
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens MSP, said: “When the Scottish Parliament voted to support boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel it certainly wasn’t meant to be a greenlight to line up with Israel’s arms dealers at trade shows.” He accused the Scottish Government of being “evasive and weak” and added: “The rhetoric is there, but the action is not. Our commitment to human rights has to mean more than speeches and carefully worded statements.”
Billy Briggs
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said it has been a “clear and consistent advocate for peace, justice and human rights in Gaza and other conflicts”, and that it takes a “principled stance on providing no public money to defence companies whose products or services are provided to countries where there is plausible evidence of genocide being committed”.
“Ministers will continue to raise the profile of Scotland’s world-class sectors such as space to a global audience,” the spokesperson added.
Israel has been accused of perpetrating genocide in Gaza by the UN, Amnesty International, and the Israeli human rights groups, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
Israel strenuously rejects accusations of genocide in Gaza.
The above firms were all asked to comment.
Be part of something bigger
Supporting The Ferret is not just about access. It’s a way to back journalism that’s accountable, impactful, and independent.
The company that runs Scotland’s ageing nuclear power station wants to weaken safety standards to keep it running for at least four more years. But the nuclear safety watchdog has its doubts.
Academics are raising concerns that an increasing percentage of young people, unable to cope with school, are withdrawing into their bedrooms, while families claim support is “woefully inadequate”.
A disproportionate number of children and young people growing up in care are dying prematurely, prompting calls for preventative action.
Everyone’s medical history and records should be confidential and secure in the hands of the NHS. But there have been serious privacy breaches resulting in dozens of staff being disciplined and police investigations.
