The Scottish Government invests over £5 million into firms linked to defence, a freedom of information request from Politics UK has revealed.
The funding is in place despite the Government’s longstanding policy of not providing funding for the manufacturing of munitions.
These include £465,307 in Leonardo UK Ltd and £250,000 in Raytheon Systems Ltd, two of the largest defence companies working in the UK.
The funding has been allocated through the Scottish Government’s economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise.
Three people were recently charged under terror laws for driving a van into the Edinburgh based Leonardo factory in protest against the firm’s alleged supply of laser technology to the Israeli military.
Various other protests have been staged at the facility since the escalation of conflict in October 2023 and an activist group, Shut Down Leonardo Edinburgh, has been established.
Responding to Politics UK, a Scottish Enterprise spokesperson said: “Our support for defence companies is consistent with Scottish and UK Government policies and guidance.
“We make it clear to those businesses, through legally binding contracts, that our help can only be used to deliver agreed projects in Scotland. None of the projects we support involve the manufacture of munitions.”
They also stated: “Our systems do not allow us to indicate which companies are directly involved in defence contracts”, but that none of the contracts involved the manufacturing of munitions.
The funding provided to the various companies detailed in the FOI response was based on their Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, which detail what sector they operate in.
Following a request for comment, Scottish Enterprise said: “Companies choosing to operate under these SIC codes may or may not be directly involved in defence related contracts.
“What we can confirm under FOI is that Scottish Enterprise funding provided to these companies was provided for specific projects at Scottish sites and did not include assistance for any projects related to the manufacture of munitions.”
The manufacturing of munitions are not part of Leonardo’s portfolio of activities in the UK, with electronic systems such as radars and infrared countermeasure devices being developed instead. However, activists argue that some of this technology is being used by Israel’s military in Gaza.
They also allege that components for munitions are manufactured in the UK by Raytheon as part of their global supply chain, supporting the development of weapons such as the Tomahawk long range land attack cruise missile and the Javelin portable anti-tank guided weapons system.
Responding to a request for comment, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We recognise the importance of the aerospace, defence and shipbuilding sectors to Scotland’s economy.
“However, the Scottish Government’s long-standing policy position is that neither the government nor its agencies should use public money to support the manufacture of munitions.”
The figures come following a public row between the Scottish and UK governments over the longstanding principle of not providing public money for the manufacturing of munitions in Scotland, which saw UK defence secretary John Healey accuse the SNP of “student union politics”.
Healey was responding to the report that a planned specialist welding training centre in Glasgow operated by Rolls Royce would not be eligible for Scottish Enterprise funding as a result.
The Labour Government has pledged to move to an “always on” capability for the manufacturing of munitions in the Strategic Defence Review, planning to open six new munitions factories, one of which would be in Scotland.
In response to the report that the planned welding skills centre may be under threat, Healey also said the Scottish Government was “not concerned about the skills base of Scotland or indeed the industry and innovation in the future because Scotland does have a big part to play in strengthening the industrial base as we will through more defence investment.”
While recognising the threats to national security posed by global events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon stressed the importance of maintaining “policy positions that we (the Scottish Government) have had for quite a long time.”
She told the BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show that “the project wasn’t eligible for funding because of the long standing policy position that we have that we do not provide or support the use of public funding for the manufacture of munitions.”
These events take place within the context of controversy following the allocation of £5.1 billion of public spending to the defence sector by the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report for 2024-25.
This figure is in contrast with the £2.1 billion of defence procurement with Scottish industry by the UK Ministry of Defence. However it has been highlighted that this figure does not include wider defence expenditure such as the salaries of service personnel.
Leonardo and Raytheon have been approached for comment.
