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by Niall Christie
Scotland editor
THE Scottish Greens have called on Scotland to end all cash grants and support for companies profiting from the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen.
Ministers have been urged to follow the US and commit to ending all financial support for the Saudi Arabian military’s bombing campaign on its neighbours.
The UK government has refused to curb arms sales itself, despite evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Saudi forces, including the bombing of hospitals and funerals.
But the Scottish government has been urged to take responsibility for its own hand in the attacks on Yemen, support and funding from Scottish Enterprise, a government agency.
Arms companies Leonardo, BAE and Raytheon have all received public funding in Scotland since 2007, despite links to the manufacture of aircraft models and missile parts used by Saudi forces.
The Scottish Greens have said that the SNP government is far from blameless, with government agencies continuing to fund “the very arms dealers fuelling the war.”
External affairs spokesperson Ross Greer said: “Many of the weapons used to commit terrible atrocities were made by companies supported directly by the Scottish government’s enterprise agency.
“If the Scottish government wants to live up to its own rhetoric on human rights, it must end these handouts immediately.”
The Scottish government denied providing funding for the manufacture of munitions, either directly or via Scottish Enterprise, and said that any support for companies is “focused on helping firms to diversify and develop non-military applications for their technology.”
Scottish Enterprise echoed the government’s claims, adding that any checks are “based on independent evidence from authoritative sources” and if investigations raise human rights concerns then support could be declined.
But Emma Cockburn of Campaign Against the Arms Trade said the Scottish government should “examine their own intimate relationship” with arms companies.
“Assurances from the Scottish government that this public funding is to support diversification efforts mean very little when it still stands to benefit companies that profit from war and global instability,” she said.
