Keir Starmer 'hasn't responded' to John Swinney on Gaza child evacuations
Swinney said that the Scottish Government is looking to medically evacuate children suffering from injuries caused by Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, but that this "requires the support of the UK Government".
First Minister John Swinney (Image: PA) The First Minister revealed that he had written to Keir Starmer urging him to support the evacuations to hospitals in Scotland.
However, Swinney said on Sunday that he is yet to receive a response from the Prime Minister.
The First Minister said in a statement: 'It is deeply saddening that so far the UK Government has refused to even enter into a dialogue about medical evacuations for children in Gaza who, without proper medical attention, will be left to die.
READ MORE: Palestine Action co-founder set to challenge UK Government terror ban
'That is the frank reality of life in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and blockade.
'The healthcare system in Gaza is on the brink of total collapse, with surgeons working day and night under artillery fire, with inadequate supplies and often no electricity.
'We know that many hospitals have been targeted and decimated by the IDF.'
The First Minister added that Scotland is prepared 'to do what is required to save the lives of as many of these kids as we can'.
Swinney's letter to Starmer was sparked by a meeting he had held with UN agency Unicef to discuss medical evacuations.
The SNP leader wrote in The National at the time: 'With hospitals destroyed and medical supplies running out, this is an emergency and a race against time to provide specialist medical care for the children and babies suffering from injuries caused by the war.
'Scotland's world-class National Health Service stands ready to play our full part in supporting these medical evacuations and the treatment of injured Palestinian children.'
He added: 'This requires the support of the UK Government, and I have asked the Prime Minister to support facilitating a transfer of these children, who need medical care to survive, to Scotland.'
Swinney's predecessor, Humza Yousaf, previously said that Scottish hospitals can help treat injured Gaza civilians if they are medically evacuated.
He added, however, that 'no request has been made' for the UK to receive medical evacuations from Gaza at that time.
READ MORE: 3 women charged under Terrorism Act after breaching Edinburgh arms factory
Since then, Israel has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
On Sunday, at least 73 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach desperately needed aid in Gaza.
In northern Gaza, 67 people were killed near the Zikim crossing with Israel as aid trucks had just arrived.
According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), 25 trucks carrying supplies for "starving communities" entered the area but were met by large crowds that came under gunfire.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: 'Since the start of the conflict, UK support has provided essential healthcare to over 430,000 people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
'We have helped several children with complex paediatric conditions access privately funded medical care in the UK, supporting an initiative by Project Pure Hope.
'We have been clear the situation in Gaza is intolerable and that there must be an immediate ceasefire.
'We urge Israel to let vital humanitarian aid in and allow Gazans to receive urgent healthcare, including allowing the sick and wounded to temporarily leave the Gaza Strip to receive treatment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Eighty years on from Labour's landslide, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza brings Clement Attlee's failure on Israel and Palestine to mind
Here's one for the aficionados: 26 July 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Labour's landslide victory in the 1945 general election. Trade unionists and Labour MPs are celebrating, claiming the nation still owes a debt of gratitude for the historic achievements of Clement Attlee's government. Yet today, as the world watches the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with horror, it's worth recalling that one of Attlee's biggest failures was his Israel - Palestine policy. (Oh, and while Attlee's health minister Aneurin Bevan boasted he "stuffed their mouths with gold" to overcome doctors' opposition to the NHS, today doctors are on strike over pay again.) The 1945 election took place on 5 July, the same date Sir Keir Starmer entered 10 Downing Street last year. But with British armed forces still serving overseas in 1945, it took until 26 July to declare the result. 9:30 Labour won 393 seats in 1945, compared with 411 last year. But while Sir Keir's Labour only won 34% of the votes, Mr Attlee won nearly 50%. But then, there was no insurgent Reform UK back then. Celebrating the 80th anniversary, Joanne Thomas, who became general secretary of the shopworkers' union Usdaw in April this year, said the Attlee government left a lasting legacy. "Usdaw's predecessor unions were proud to play a role in the 1945 election victory and to see 18 of our members elected," she said. "Not least a hero of our union 'Red Ellen', a fiery trade union organiser who led the Jarrow hunger march and went on to serve as education minister." Wilkinson was indeed red. Attlee biographer Trevor Burridge wrote: "Ellen Wilkinson was made minister of education despite the fact that she had actively campaigned against his leadership." She was MP for Jarrow, not a million miles from the current education secretary and Starmer super-loyalist Bridget Phillipson's Houghton and Sunderland South constituency. But not even her best friends would call her red! Ellen Wilkinson was also the only woman in Attlee's 1945 cabinet. Last year, Sir Keir made history by appointing 11 women to his cabinet. Labour MP Marie Tidball, elected last year, joined the tributes to Attlee. "He transformed Britain for working people and this legacy laid the foundations for Britain today - our NHS, welfare state and homes for heroes. "Those public services meant I could grow up to fulfil my potential. Labour legend." But if Attlee's NHS, welfare state and nationalisation are viewed as successes by Labour trade unionists and MPs, his government's policy on Palestine is widely agreed to have been a failure. In his acclaimed biography of Attlee's foreign secretary, "Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill", former Blairite cabinet minister Andrew Adonis wrote: "Why did Bevin get Israel/Palestine so wrong?" Adonis says Bevin's policy on Palestine "led to the precise opposite of its declared intention of stability and the peaceful co-existence of the Jewish and Palestinian communities within one state at peace with its neighbours". He concluded: "Instead, Bevin's legacy was a Jewish state of Israel, much larger than even most of its advocates previously favoured, in periodic war and perpetual tension with both its Palestinians and its Arab neighbours." Where did Bevin go wrong? Adonis wrote: "In the first place, because, during the three key years 1945-48, he did not agree that his central policy objective was 'good relations with the United States'." As Sir Keir Starmer prepares to meet Donald Trump in Scotland, 80 years after the historic Attlee victory, that's clearly not a mistake the current Labour PM has made in his relations with the US president. " I like your prime minister," the president said as he arrived in Scotland, "he's slightly more liberal than I am, but I like him". So, 80 years on from Attlee, lessons have been learned. So far, so good, that is.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
'Hypocrite' John Swinney hands £180k golf sweetener to Trump as storm rages over the First Minister 'whipping up' anti-Trump protests
John Swinney is at the centre of a major hypocrisy row after he pledged a donation of £180,000 of public cash for a golf tournament at one of Donald Trump's Scottish courses. The First Minister was accused of offering the 'cynical sweetener' to the US President just days after he was roundly criticised for 'whipping up' anti-Trump protests ahead of his four-day trip to Scotland. Mr Swinney – who has called for Mr Trump's State visit to the UK in September to be cancelled – told activists hoping to disrupt the President's trip to 'do Scotland proud' and 'demonstrate lawfully'. However, on Saturday – as Mr Swinney prepared to meet with the President – the Scottish Government rushed out an announcement of funding for a showpiece golf event at one of Mr Trump's courses in Aberdeenshire. One source told MailOnline: 'The Scottish Government was alarmed at the way Mr Swinney's comments on protests were portrayed, and were desperate to achieve a positive narrative before the two meet.' The last-minute cash injection is for the 2025 Nexo Championship which takes place at the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire between August 7-10. MailOnline understands the funding announcement for the DP World Tour event was due to be made on Tuesday, but was brought forward to distract the White House from Mr Swinney's protest comments. Critics warned the First Minister to 'start acting like a grown-up in his dealings with the President'. The President of the United States was spotted enjoying a game of golf at Turnberry on Saturday Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: ' John Swinney 's disgracefully condemned President Trump's State visit, and then talked up protests while claiming to welcome him to Scotland. 'Now he's announced that his government is giving money to a golf course owned by the President. 'That rare support for tourism from the SNP is welcome, but many will see it as a hypocritical and cynical sweetener. 'The First Minister must start acting like a grown-up in his dealings with the President and advance Scotland's interests rather than trying to appease the childish hostility of his own supporters.' The row comes as: - Mr Trump was spotted enjoying a round of golf at his Turnberry course in Ayrshire on Saturday. - Sir Keir Starmer is hoping to discuss trade, a ceasefire in Gaza and the war in Ukraine in a meeting with the President on Monday. - Major anti-Trump protests took place in Aberdeen and Edinburgh with officers from other forces brought in to help Police Scotland. Referencing the £180,000 boost, Mr Swinney said: 'The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of golf and golf events, including boosting tourism and our economy. 'As the home of golf, we have a long-standing track record of support and I am proud this funding will further enhance Aberdeenshire's reputation as a leading golfing destination.' A Scottish Government spokesman added: 'With the eyes of the world on Scotland, this funding was announced to further raise the profile of Aberdeenshire.' The announcement comes as Mr Swinney's team are said to have been 'alarmed' after his protest comments were 'misinterpreted'. The SNP leader was accused of 'playing to the gallery' by claiming Mr Trump's visit gave Scotland 'a platform to make its voice heard on war and peace, justice and democracy'. On Thursday he said: 'I am confident the vast majority of people protesting will do Scotland proud and demonstrate as they should – peacefully and lawfully.' The Scottish Police Federation (SPF), which represents rank and file officers, blasted Mr Swinney for 'appearing to welcome protest', while the Scottish Conservatives said Mr Swinney should 'not engage in this dog-whistle attempt at whipping up protest'. SPF general secretary David Kennedy said: 'It is important to remember that it will fall to Scotland's under-resourced officers to maintain peace throughout this high-profile event.' A huge security operation is in place to keep Mr Trump safe with almost a third of Police Scotland's manpower deployed to the task. Mr Swinney's olive branch comes despite his previous robust criticism of the US President. After Mr Trump clashed with Ukraine's President Zelensky in February, the First Minister urged the UK Government to cancel the State visit later this year. But after landing Airport on Friday, President Trump appeared unfazed by Mr Swinney's views. He said: 'I have a lot of love [for Scotland], my mother was born in Scotland. The Scottish leader's a good man and I look forward to meeting him.' Mr Swinney has pledged to use his meeting with Mr Trump in the coming days as an opportunity to 'speak out for Scotland' on international issues such as Gaza, as well as promoting Scotland's trading links with the United States. The Prime Minister, meanwhile, will use his talks with Mr Trump to seek to build on the new trade deal agreed with the USA in May. The MoS understands he will also discuss a ceasefire in Gaza and the war in Ukraine. Mr Trump said his talks with Sir Keir will be a 'celebration' of the US/UK trade deal. He said: 'We are going to have a good time, the Prime Minister and I get along very well.'
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Israeli gunfire and strikes kill 42 in Gaza as many of the dead sought aid
Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 42 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service, as starvation deaths continued and ceasefire talks appear to have stalled. The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were taken. Israel's military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd 'in response to an immediate threat' and it was not aware of any casualties. Those killed in the strikes include four people in an apartment building in Gaza City among others, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of the talks into further uncertainty. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday his government was considering 'alternative options' to ceasefire talks with Hamas. His comments came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic. Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the US, said the pause was only temporary and that talks would resume, though they did not say when. The United Nations (UN) and experts have said that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition. While Israel's army says it is allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the UN says it is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting. The Zikim crossing shootings come days after at least 80 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the same crossing. During the shootings on Friday night, Sherif Abu Aisha said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from the aid trucks, but as they got close, they realised it was from Israel's tanks. That is when the army started firing on people, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle, a father of eight, was among those killed. 'We went because there is no food… and nothing was distributed,' he said. Israel is facing increased international pressure to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticising Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food. For the first time in months Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote in a newspaper article on Saturday that the UK was 'working urgently' with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza. Aid group the World Central Kitchen said on Friday it was resuming limited cooking operations in Deir al-Balah after being forced to halt due to a lack of food supplies.
