Scottish Enterprise panned for lack of checks on Israeli-linked arms firms

The National

2 days ago

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that two major arms companies in receipt of Scottish Enterprise grants – Italian arms giant Leonardo and American multinational Raytheon Systems – haven't received a human right due diligence check since October 2019
This funding comes despite both firms continue to supply Israel with weapons amid its genocide in Gaza.
In that timeframe, both firms have also been in receipt of Scottish public money – Leonardo received £786,125 in 2023 while Raytheon Systems, which has a factory in Glenrothes, was given £500k in the first half of 2024.
Leonardo produces laser targeting systems for Lockheed Martin, which sells the F-35 jets Israel, and Raytheon makes Paveway II guided missiles which are also used by Israel.
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The last time a check was performed on French arms firm Thales was July 2021, while Babcock was last checked in March 2022 and Chemring Energetics in December 2021. Bae Systems received a check in February 2024.
In response, human rights charity Amnesty International told The National that the 'more we learn' about the checks 'the more concerning it becomes' that Scottish Enterprise and Scottish ministers are defending the process.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, meanwhile, said it was 'shocking', adding: 'There is no point in having human rights checks at all if they are never carried out.'
In total, Scottish Enterprise has given £8 million to 13 companies involved in weapons manufacturing since 2019.
The Scottish Government has repeatedly insisted that no public funding goes towards the manufacturing of munitions specifically but other areas these companies operate in, including research, training and apprenticeships.
Scottish Enterprise, meanwhile, has strongly denied its human rights checks are not adequate.
However, that has been called into question given that, of the 199 human rights checks between 2021 and 2023, no firm has ever failed.
When pressed on the issue in an exclusive interview with The National last weekend, First Minister John Swinney defended the grants.
'We won't support the production of munitions. That's our hard line. And we get criticised for taking that hard line, and I'm very confident that hard line is applied,' he said.
The First Minister was then pressed on the argument that any funding – even if ring-fenced by the Scottish Government – will directly help a company's cash flow and could, hypothetically, free up money to be used elsewhere, including in the building of munitions.
'I understand that point. But there are also defence requirements of Scotland. Scotland is part of an island nation. We require, for example, shipbuilding resources to support the maritime defense of the United Kingdom because nobody wants to see us vulnerable to an attack from Russia. I certainly don't want to,' he responded.
An Amnesty International spokesperson said: "Amnesty is aware from our own research that payments were made to companies known to supply Israel without a new check being triggered by the unfolding genocide in Gaza.
'Alarmingly, that is the process Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government attempted to characterise as robust and well aligned to international standards. The recent in-house review of the human rights checks recommended some improvements, but unsurprisingly they don't go far enough. We will be meeting with Scottish Enterprise in the coming weeks to take these concerns forward."
Slater, meanwhile, said it 'flies in the face of any kind of due diligence'.
"These are some of the biggest arms companies in the world. They have armed human rights abusers and dictatorships and some have directly enabled and profited from the genocide in Gaza,' she said.
"They should not be receiving public money in the first place, and the Scottish Government absolutely should not be setting up tests to win favourable headlines while refusing to actually implement them.
"How can we trust a word they say on ensuring they are applying human rights standards when they are refusing to even ask the right questions of those they are giving public money to?"
A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise said: 'Under our current processes, Human Rights Due Diligence Checks last for three years. New checks are carried out prior to the approval of new funding if they have expired. Funding was authorised and contracted while valid checks or exemptions were in effect in all cases.
'It is important to note that contractual payments are made to companies in stages as the conditions of their contracts are met, in line with the effective management of public funds. Payments can therefore be made over several years.
'The recent review of our HRDD checks affirmed the strength of our processes while identifying areas for enhancement, including increasing the frequency of checks to better respond to emerging risks. We are committed to implementing identified improvements over the course of 2025/26.
'We have been transparent on the frequency of our checks and have corresponded in detail on this with interested parties including Amnesty International, who we look forward to meeting next week.'