Swinney: Scottish Government is ‘fighting Scotland’s corner’

PREPARING SCOTLAND FOR THE FUTURE

First Minister John Swinney has announced he will bring forward the Scottish Government’s legislative programme to ensure the country is as prepared as possible to secure its future in the face of the uncertainty facing the global economy.

Speaking during a press conference at Bute House this morning, the First Minister announced the Programme for Government will be presented to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 6 May 2025.

It will set out the actions the Scottish Government will take to ensure resilience and deliver on the four core priorities to eradicate child poverty, grow the economy, tackle the climate emergency and ensure high quality and sustainable public services.

The First Minister also set out plans to immediately begin work with key partners in the business community and trade unions to map out the actions required in Scotland, and the UK as a whole, to respond to emerging economic challenges and ensure the needs of the devolved nations are at the heart of UK decision-making.

First Minister John Swinney said: “I know that this is a time of great uncertainty for people, that many families and businesses are worried about what global events will mean for them.

“We face yet another storm, after almost two decades of knocks and challenges – the financial crisis, austerity, Brexit, Covid, the energy price spike following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the subsequent inflation spike. Each has weakened us in some way, but none has defeated us.

“The Programme for Government will be laser-focused on delivery. It will set out what I believe my government can and will deliver for the people of Scotland over the coming year.

“The economic headwinds are blowing strong across the Atlantic and they demand a response that is both immediate and measured. My Programme for Government will set out what practical steps we will take to strengthen our response to those headwinds and ensure Scottish business and our economy is positioned well to create jobs and grow the economy.

“I want to make sure the UK Government understands where we need them to do much more to protect Scotland’s economic interests.

“As a result, I will be bringing together our key partners in the business community and the trades union movement on Wednesday to map out the actions we can take, here in Scotland, and which can be complemented across the UK, to respond to the emerging economic realities. That work will influence my government’s approach, and I want it to shape the response at a UK level into the bargain.

“A Scotland that is wealthier, fairer, more resilient – that is my ambition. I want people feeling more confident about the future and more secure in the midst of the uncertainties, because they have a government that is fighting Scotland’s corner.

“A government that is bringing people together, so that our response to the challenges we face is rooted in a Scotland that is united, prepared and determined, a Scotland confident in its ability to, once again, weather the storm and come out of that storm a great deal stronger.”

First Minister pays tribute to Christina McKelvie MSP

Popular Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy has passed away

Following the news of the sad passing of Christina McKelvie MSP, the Scottish Government Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney MSP, said: “I am devastated to learn of the passing of Christina McKelvie – one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met in my life.

“In all the years since I first met Christina, I have been so grateful to call her my friend and colleague and to benefit from her warmth and loyalty.

“Christina was fiercely proud of her Easterhouse roots, and she often spoke of how injustices her family experienced in her childhood had inspired her to join the trade union movement and enter elected politics.

“In her almost two decades as a Member of the Scottish Parliament, Christina put her values into action. Whether it was helping her constituents in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, serving as a highly-respected committee convenor, or in the Ministerial posts she held, Christina was always a fierce champion for equality, social justice, for Scottish independence and for a better world.

“But for all her many political achievements, Christina was first and foremost deeply committed to her family. Everyone could see the joy that she and her partner Keith brought to each other’s lives, and she spoke so often over the years of her pride for her sons, and more recently her immense joy at becoming a granny.

“In recent years, when Christina returned to Parliament after treatment for breast cancer, she was determined to help those around her – using her platform to encourage women to check themselves and go to screening appointments.

“The Scottish National Party has lost one of its finest, and I have lost an outstanding Minister in my government. I know her loss will be felt right across the Parliament and among the countless constituents she supported over the years. Christina was such a big-hearted woman, with compassion and social justice at her core. Her political allies and opponents would agree – she truly was a force of nature.

“Today, my thoughts and prayers are with Keith, her sons Jack and Lewis and her wider family and many friends.”

First Minister: Government “from the ground up”

Vision for progress in St Andrew’s Day address ahead of 2025-26 Budget

First Minister John Swinney will use an address ahead of St Andrew’s Day to outline his vision for government – and his determination to deliver government from the ground up.

The First Minister will set out the need for collaboration and consensus-building to deliver solutions to some of the problems facing communities in Scotland.

Speaking ahead of next week’s Scottish Budget, the First Minister will commit the Scottish Government to prioritising funding and investment needed to build on his four priorities – eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services and tackling the climate emergency.

The First Minister is expected to say: “Scotland is best served when we collaborate, when we build consensus and work together across sectors, across disciplines and across cultures.

“The need to do so has never been more urgent. For the issues we face now are complex, pervasive and entrenched – and they are mounting. 

“In these last seven years, we have seen global challenges stacked upon global challenges. From Brexit and COVID-19, to international conflicts, economic crises and climate disasters.

“On top of this, we have seen domestic problems, such as delayed discharge and the availability of housing, become more and more acute, due to rapidly increasing need in our society.

“Yet, too often – and particularly in politics – discussions and the public discourse are dominated by surface solutions, because they are the few that can gain consensus.

“The temptation then arises to throw money and strategies at a problem, or simply to find someone to blame for it, because the hard work of finding true consensus, of peer reviewing ideas in good faith, can feel unrealistic in our increasingly polarised reality.

“We must maintain enough hope and energy to work together, to understand the root causes and the complexity of problems and to find the right solutions.

“These solutions may not always be quick or easy – but that does not make them any less necessary. This is the approach that people should expect from a Swinney government.

“I want to bring people closer to their communities, which is particularly important in a country like Scotland, where the picture in the Central Belt or the Borders can be so different to the Highlands or the Islands.

“Being closer to our communities also makes it easier for us to bring those communities into policy-making: government from the ground up.”

First Minister to visit carbon capture scheme: Why is public money going to wealthy polluters?

CARBON CAPTURE FUNDING + VISIT ‘MAKE A MOCKERY’ OF PLANNING PROCESS

First Minister John Swinney will visit the site of an innovative carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Aberdeenshire today where he will unveil new Scottish Government funding for the project.

The Acorn project, based in St Fergus, would take captured CO2 emissions from industrial processes across the country and store it safely under the North Sea. 

The First Minister will meet representatives of the project and undertake a short tour of the site, before meeting staff and apprentices.

While in Aberdeenshire the First Minister will also meet business leaders and members of the Scottish seafood sector at a roundtable discussion in Peterhead.

Speaking ahead of his visit to the North East, the First Minister said: “Carbon capture and storage will play a huge role in Scotland’s net zero future.

“The Scottish Government is wholly committed to supporting the Acorn Project, which will take advantage of our access to vast CO2 storage potential and our opportunities to repurpose existing oil and gas infrastructure.

“Scotland’s energy transition presents one of the greatest economic and social opportunities of our time. This landmark project will help to support a just transition for oil and gas workers in the North East and across the country, by drawing upon their world-leading skills and expertise to create many good, green jobs in the coming years.

“The North East is also a powerhouse of Scotland’s word-class seafood processing sector, which contributes massively to our economy. According to recent figures the region alone is home to more than 3,379 full time equivalent jobs.

“The Scottish Government will continue to engage and work closely with the sector, and communities, to ensure that Scotland’s fishing industry, the wider seafood sector, and our marine environment can thrive sustainably.”

Climate campaigners have responded to the First Minister’s plans to visit to the Aberdeenshire CCS project saying it ‘makes a mockery’ of the planning process and questioning why there was more public funding being pledged for fossil fuel infrastructure.

The visit was announced as news broke of an official complaint into the Scottish Government’s handling of the planning application for the Peterhead gas power station with carbon capture.

The FM’s visit raises a number of concerns including that the explicit endorsement of this project may undermine any future assessment of a planning application to build the Acorn Project.

Environmentalists are also alarmed that public money is being handed to a pet project of fossil fuel companies. Shell, who are a key partner in Acorn, have made £50 BILLION profit in the past two years.  

The Acorn Project is not yet in the planning system, and no application has been made yet it appears the FM is gambling our energy future on this technology working. The Scottish Government’s over-reliance on faltering Negative Emissions Technologies created a huge gap in its calculations around emissions reductions for the 2030 climate targets.

CCS has never delivered the capture rates that its proponents claim and there is a growing body of evidence that all it is doing is capturing public money and providing greenwash for continued fossil fuel expansion.

Friends of the Earth Scotland climate and energy campaigner Caroline Rance said:

“The Acorn carbon capture terminal does not exist and there hasn’t even been a planning application submitted to build it.

“However, with these fawning statements of support, the First Minister is in danger of making a mockery of the Scottish Government conducting a fair assessment of future planning applications.

“Vital public services are crying out for funding yet John Swinney has decided to give millions of pounds to a pet project of Shell, who made £50 billion profit in the last two years. The public must be starting to think the Scottish Government has been captured by the fossil fuel industry with hundreds of cosy meetings, huge handouts and the rolling back of positions on ending oil and gas.

“The Acorn Project is a pipe dream of polluters that will never live up to its hype.The purpose of CCS is to greenwash plans to keep burning oil and gas. Carbon capture has already had billions of pounds and decades of work to prove itself and it has failed on its promises everywhere it has been tried.

“Both the Scottish and UK Governments need to realise that public money would be far better invested in climate solutions that work today and can create decent green jobs such as home insulation, public transport and affordable renewable energy.”


Key questions for the First Minister: 

        • How can Ministers making future planning decisions be expected to judge the Acorn project on its merits when the First Minister is fawning over it and is funnelling public money towards it?

        • Why is public money required to deliver this project when the oil companies who will benefit are making obscene profits?

        • How will this project avoid the failures that have been seen in every other carbon capture project around the world?

‘A voice to shape Scotland, a voice above all for the future’

‘THERE SHALL BE A SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT’

YESTERDAY marked the 25th Anniversary of the Scottish Parliament, which took up it’s legal powers on 1st July 1999.

The Parliament was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Scotland’s First Minister Donald Dewar replied to the Queen’s address with a speech thanking her for the Mace, the parliament’s symbol of authority.

FIRST MINISTER DONAL DEWAR’s SPEECH IN FULL:

“Your Majesty, on behalf of the people of Scotland I thank you for the gift of the Mace.

It is a symbol of the great democratic traditions from which we draw our inspiration and our strength.

At its head are inscribed the opening words of our founding statute: “There shall be a Scottish Parliament”.

Through long years, many long years in the case of many of us, those words were first a hope, then a belief, then a promise. Now they are a reality.

This is indeed a moment anchored in our history. Today we can reach back to the long haul to win this parliament, to the struggles of those who brought democracy to Scotland, to that other parliament dissolved in controversy over 300 years ago.

Today we can look forward to the time when this moment will be seen as a turning point – the day when democracy was renewed in Scotland when we revitalised our place in this, our United Kingdom.

This is about more than our politics and our laws. This is about who we are, how we carry ourselves.

And in the quiet moments of today – if there are any – we might hear some echoes from the past: the shout of the welder in the din of the great Clyde shipyards, the speak of the Mearns rooted in the land, the discourse of the enlightenment when Edinburgh and Glasgow were indeed a light held to the intellectual life of Europe, the wild cry of the great pipes and back to the distant noise of battles in the days of Bruce and Wallace.

The past is part of us, part of every one of us and we respect it. But today there is a new voice in the land, the voice of a democratic parliament, a voice to shape Scotland, a voice above all for the future.

Walter Scott wrote that only a man with soul so dead could have no sense, no feel for his native land.

For me – and I think in this I speak at least for any Scot today – this is a proud moment, a new stage in a journey begun long ago and which has no end. This is a proud day for all of us.

A Scottish Parliament, not an end but a means to greater ends and these too are part of our Mace. Woven into the symbolic thistles are these four words – wisdom, justice, compassion, integrity.

Burns would have understood that. We’ve just heard beautifully sung one of his most enduring works, and at the heart of that song is a very Scottish conviction that honesty and simple dignity are priceless virtues not imparted by rank or birth or privilege but part of the soul.

Burns believed that sense of worth ultimately prevail, he believed that was the core of politics and that without it our profession is inevitably impoverished.

Wisdom, justice, compassion, integrity – timeless values, honourable aspirations for this new forum of democracy born on the cusp of a new century.

We are fallible – we all know that. We will make mistakes but I hope and I believe we will never lose sight of what brought us here – the striving to do right by the people of Scotland, to respect their priorities, to better their lot and to contribute to the common weal.

I look forward to the days ahead and I know there will be many of them. This chamber will sound with debate, argument and passion, when men and women from all over Scotland will meet to work together for a future built on the first principles of social justice.

But today we pause and reflect.

It is a rare privilege in an old nation to open a new parliament. Today is and must be a celebration of the principles, the traditions, the democratic imperatives which have brought us to this point and which will sustain us in the future.

Your Majesty, we are proud that you are here today to hansel this parliament and here with us as we dedicate ourselves to the work that lies ahead.

Your Majesty, our thanks.”

This round’s on us – First Minister invited to local to discuss the future of Scottish pubs


Campaign for Real Ale invites John Swinney for a drink

The newly appointed Scottish First Minister, John Swinney, is invited to a pub of his choice to discuss the issues surrounding the Scottish pub and beer industry, such as pub business rates, alcohol advertising, planning laws and the Scottish Pubs Code.

The First Minister’s appointment arrives soon after Scottish Government’s decision to implement a new statutory Scottish Pubs Code and Adjudicator. CAMRA would hope to build on this long-awaited, but welcome, news in a meeting with Mr Swinney to make sure there is a robust Pubs Code to protect tied pub tenants and to secure pubs at the heart of Scottish communities.

CAMRA represents thousands of beer and cider consumers all across Scotland, who are worried about the future of their locals, unless action is taken in the near future.

CAMRA’s Scotland Director Stuart McMahon – representing Scotland’s CAMRA members – is inviting the First Minister for a chat at his local about the importance of fairer business rates on pubs in Scotland, in order help secure the future of community pubs and slow the rise of the price of a pint.

McMahon also wants the new First Minister to close a planning loophole that allows pubs to be demolished without planning permission.

Campaigners also want to see a commitment from the Scottish Government not to bring back draconian plans to ban all alcohol advertisement and sponsorship.

Commenting, CAMRA’s Scotland Director Stuart McMahon said: “We would like to congratulate John Swinney on becoming the First Minister of Scotland. While we are sure he has a lot on his plate, urgent discussions must be had to ensure a successful future for Scottish pubs.

“This is why we invite the First Minister to a pub of his choice to discuss the various ways in which pub, brewing and cider making industries can be improved to ameliorate the pub-going experience for beer and cider consumers.

“Our priorities for this meeting, and for the Scottish government, will be fairer business rates for pubs, confirmation of a decision to allow alcohol advertising in Scotland, a more secure planning law system and a muscular, robust Scottish Pubs Code.”

Letter to First Minister:

Dear John Swinney, 

Join CAMRA to discuss the future of Scottish pubs 

We are writing on behalf of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. We are a consumer organisation with thousands of members across Scotland. We campaign for great quality cask beer, real cider, and perry and thriving community pubs in all of our communities. 

We would like to congratulate you on becoming the First Minister of Scotland. While we are sure you have a lot on your plate, urgent discussions must be had to ensure a successful future for Scottish pubs.  

This is why we invite you to a pub of your choice to discuss the various ways in which the pub, brewing and cider making industry can be improved to ameliorate the pub-going experience for beer and cider consumers.  

We know that you understand that beer and pubs are not only important to local economies, but also to our communities, culture and heritage. Our pubs are a vital part of our social fabric – playing a pivotal role in communities across the country, providing a space for local people to meet, helping to tackle loneliness, and having a positive impact on the personal wellbeing of pub-goers. 

The pub-going experience, however, is changing with the prices of pints continually on the rise, potentially pricing out consumers, and the widespread closures of pubs becoming commonplace.  

CAMRA members and pub-goers across Scotland are worried that this trend of pub closures will continue, and that their community local might be next.  

Pub-goers up and down the country want to see a fairer business rates system for pubs, a sensible re-think on alcohol advertising and sponsorship plans, more secure planning laws to save community locals and a robust Scottish Pubs Code to protect tied pub tenants and consumer choice at the bar. 

We would like to invite you to a pub of your choice to meet and have a drink (on us!) to discuss the issues facing consumers, licensees, pubs and breweries in Scotland, and how CAMRA members can work together with you to promote and protect great Scottish beer and pubs. 

Yours sincerely, 

Stuart McMahon  

CAMRA Scotland Director 

First Minister’s concerns over UK decision to continue to arm Israel

Noting that the Prime Minister did not agree to his call to end the license of arms exports to Israel, the First Minister has written to Lord Ahmad to warn that the UK Government is in danger of being complicit in the killing of innocent civilians.

The full text of the letter: UK arms sales to Israel: letter to Lord Ahmad:

Dear Lord Ahmad,

Thank you for your letter of 8 April replying to mine to the Prime Minister of 23 February and 3 April.

I welcome the UK Government’s stated commitment to International Humanitarian Law, our diplomats’ contribution to finally achieving a UN Security Council Resolution, and the UK’s wider efforts to bring an end to the tragedy befalling the people of the Middle East.

I share with you the grief at the killing of three British aid workers, along with every other innocent man, woman and child killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas’s terrorist attacks of 7 October and Israel’s response, which has gone far beyond any legitimate response.

In spite of everything contained in your comprehensive reply, I note that you have not agreed to my call to end the license of arms exports to Israel, which means that the UK will continue to arm Israel’s war in Gaza. A war that has left tens of thousands dead, the majority reported to be women and children.

As I said in my letter of 3 April, by continuing to arm Israel, the United Kingdom Government is in danger of being complicit in the killing of innocent civilians.

I find it difficult to comprehend that this continues to be the United Kingdom’s position against the backdrop of the ICJ ruling; UN Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council Resolutions; countless UN officials’ statements about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza; and the recent open letter signed by over 600 legal professionals warning of potential UK complicity in grave breaches of international law, including violations of the Genocide Convention.

If this, alongside the killing of British nationals among at least 35,000 dead – the majority of whom are innocent women and children – is insufficient to change your policy, what more will it take?

Keeping 100,000 Scottish children out of poverty

Modelling shows vital impact of Scottish Government policies

First Minister Humzah Yousaf has welcomed analysis which estimates 100,000 children will be kept out of relative poverty in 2024-25 as a result of Scottish Government policies.

Updated modelling of the cumulative impact of policies such as the Scottish Child Payment indicates the relative child poverty rate will be 10 percentage points lower than it would otherwise have been.

Speaking after joining a Book Bug session at Drum Brae Library Hub in Edinburgh with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Mr Yousaf highlighted estimates in the report of the impact the UK Government could have on child poverty, if it were to bring in selected welfare changes alongside the Scottish Government’s actions.

These show that removing the two-child limit and reinstating the family element in Universal Credit – worth £545 per family in 2017 – could lead to an estimated further 10,000 fewer children in Scotland living in poverty in 2024-25.

Meanwhile, introducing an Essentials Guarantee to ensure Universal Credit is always enough to meet people’s basic needs could lead to 30,000 fewer children experiencing poverty.

The First Minister said: “It is utterly unacceptable that, in 2024, children continue to live in poverty in Scotland. That is why we have very deliberately chosen to invest in our public services, and the social contract which binds the Scottish Government to the people we serve.

“From the introduction of the innovative and transformative Scottish Child Payment – described as ‘game-changing’ by frontline organisations and already improving the lives of so many children and families across Scotland in real and immediate ways – to investing £1 billion to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap, continuing delivery of the Whole Family Wellbeing programme, providing £50 million to develop and scale up holistic family support and investing around £1 billion every year in high quality early learning and childcare, ensuring Scotland delivers the most generous funded childcare offer in the UK.

“The economic modelling published today estimates that the actions we’re taking will mean the relative and absolute child poverty rates will be 10 and 7 percentage points lower than they would have otherwise been.

That’s 100,000 children kept out of relative poverty and 70,000 kept out of absolute poverty next year. These are the lives of children across Scotland, in every single community, being improved by the action we are taking.

“While we all know the challenging financial situation Scotland faces, the Scottish Budget continues to prioritise tackling and reducing child poverty. Against a backdrop of the UK Government’s two-child limit and continued austerity, we are taking real action to lift children out of poverty and improve their chances in life.

“We know that the UK Government could lift a further 40,000 children out of poverty in Scotland this year if they made key changes to Universal Credit. That includes introducing an Essential’s Guarantee and scrapping the two child limit.

“Every child in Scotland deserves a life free of poverty and I will continue to do everything in my power to make that a reality.”

Boyack demands Yousaf is honest with public over fate of Eye Hospital

Labour MSP for the Lothians, Sarah Boyack, has written an open letter to First Minister Humza Yousaf urging him to be honest about the fate of Edinburgh’s replacement eye hospital.

This comes after the First Minister confirmed that the Scottish Government was still committed to the eye hospital, despite the capital spending freeze imposed on health boards.

However, excerpts from the NHS Lothian board papers confirmed that work on the eye hospital would “cease” and stated that the board “should recognise the loss of this future infrastructure” will lead to major, negative challenges in delivering scheduled care over the coming years.

This admission throws into doubt the First Minister’s commitment, given the Scottish Government’s instruction to NHS Lothian to “immediately cease all capital projects”. The instruction includes “the New Eye Hospital at the BioQuarter”.

It also highlights a lack of certainty within the health board about the project’s status.

The current Eye Pavilion was deemed not fit for purpose in 2014, and a new replacement has been deemed a top priority by NHS Lothian.

Since 2014, the average wait time in days for inpatient and outpatient appointments more than doubled.

Ms Boyack has urged the First Minister to end the uncertainty around the project, as it is having detrimental impacts on patients and their treatment.

Commenting on her letter, Ms Boyack said: “The First Minister needs to level with the public about the replacement eye hospital.

“It was promised at the last election, then in the budget we found out that no new capital project can go ahead.

“While the First Minister says he is committed to the project, his government have kicked it into long grass.

“NHS Lothian has been put in an impossible position.

“If the First Minister is serious about delivering Edinburgh’s eye hospital, then he must come forth with a concrete timeline to deliver it.

“Anything less is just being dishonest with the public and damaging to patients.”

The letter reqads:

Dear First Minister,

I am writing regarding the recent announcements in relation to the construction of a replacement Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh.

As you are aware, you and your predecessor have both committed to a new Edinburgh Eye Hospital since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election following the current Eye Pavilion being deemed not fit for purpose in 2014. However, in a letter I received from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on the 18th January confirmed that the building of a new Eye Hospital will not go ahead.

Moreover, NHS Lothian Board papers, published in advance of the board’s meeting on the 7th of February, have stated “NHS Lothian was directed to immediately cease all capital projects”. The board paper observed that  “the loss of this future infrastructure will substantively and negatively impact on our ability to deliver compliant access to scheduled care for our population in coming years.” Worryingly the paper also highlighted the “the significant and detrimental impact this decision has had on our teams many of whom have dedicated time, expertise, and leadership in supporting progress of these vital projects.”

In light of your comments during First Minister’s Questions, on January the 25th, which appear to contradict NHS Lothian, I would appreciate if you could give an overview of the timeframe for the Eye Hospital being delivered if it is still the Scottish Government’s intention to proceed with the project, after the two year capital spending project freeze. Given the lengthy and increased waiting times for operations, the Scottish Government must also provide immediate support to ensure that NHS Lothian is able to provide adequate care for those with vision impairments.

My concern is that confused information and delays will only cause more disruption for patients, on top of increasing numbers of cancelled and delayed appointments.

Best wishes,

First Minister and STUC call for ceasefire in Gaza

Almost 1.6 million people have already been displaced

First Minister Humzah Yousaf and Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) have jointly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel during a bi-annual meeting yesterday.

The meeting was an opportunity for the Scottish Government and STUC to re-iterate solidarity with the Jewish and Muslim communities in Scotland, and commit to working in collaboration to ensure that antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any form of hatred or prejudice has no place in Scotland.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “We unequivocally condemn the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas almost six weeks ago, and call for all hostages to be immediately, unconditionally, and safely released.

“What we are witnessing in Gaza is a humanitarian disaster. More than 11,000 men, woman, and children have lost their lives, and almost 1.6 million have been displaced. The people of Gaza are in desperate need of water, shelter, food, and safety.

“We must stand together and united, join with international organisations and aid agencies like the United Nations and World Health Organisation, and continue to lend Scotland’s voice to the growing international calls for an urgent ceasefire.

“The way forward is clear, and I hope that others across Scotland will add their voices to our calls – which build on Scotland’s proud history of supporting and promoting peace across the world. 

“Working in solidarity with trade unions and others to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hatred in Scotland is crucial, and I am absolutely committed to sending a clear message that hatred or prejudice directed at any community has no place in our modern Scotland.”

Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer: ““The STUC is unequivocal: there must be an immediate ceasefire. We reiterate our utter condemnation of the Hamas attack on innocent Israeli citizens and call for the release of all hostages without delay.

“However, just as there can be no historical justification for such acts, neither is there any justification for the indiscriminate killing of innocents who are subject to terror and barbarism whilst the world looks on.

“We join with the First Minister and the Scottish Government, in addition to the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and international agencies across the world, in demanding a ceasefire and to end the killing of innocent men, women and children within the region.

Collective punishment is a war crime.  International law must be upheld. Peace must reign. However distant it may seem, a political solution can be found that guarantees peace and statehood for all peoples in Israel and Palestine.”

“Today I visited the Gaza Strip to meet with children, their families and UNICEF staff. What I saw and heard was devastating.

“They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement. Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn.”

Read the full statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on her visit to Gaza: https://uni.cf/40Fliqv