Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
I am pleased to follow Kevin Stewart in giving his last address to the Scottish Parliament. Of course, I wish him all the very best. He is right, as were Murdo Fraser and Kenny Gibson, to highlight the response of the communities of Scotland and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Ukraine is fighting for its survival and our freedom. It is right that we take this time in Parliament to place on record our solidarity with the Ukrainian people and with the brave men and women of the Ukrainian armed forces defending their country.
We should be in no doubt about what this war is. It is not a misunderstanding or a border dispute—it is a criminal and illegal invasion, ordered by Vladimir Putin. He has behaved not as a statesman but as a gangster. The destruction of cities, the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of civilians and the displacement of millions are the direct consequences of his aggression.
In recent months, the scale of the attacks has intensified. Ukrainian cities are being subjected to mass drone and missile strikes night after night, with hundreds of drones in a single wave, dozens of missiles fired in one barrage, power stations destroyed, homes flattened, children killed, and families left in the winter without heat or electricity. Those are not legitimate military targets. The attacks are acts of terror directed at a civilian population. Let us not forget that against that brutality stands the extraordinary courage of the Ukrainian people. We should also remember the many Ukrainian women and children who came here to Scotland, as has been mentioned, at the beginning of the conflict, and how the communities of Scotland have stepped forward.
Britain has the right—and has been right—to stand firmly with Ukraine. The training given by British forces and the equipment supplied has mattered enormously, but this is not the moment for any slackening of that commitment. Ukraine’s security is bound up with our national interest. Indeed, the war in Ukraine is teaching us a hard lesson that drone warfare at scale is now the method of choice in such conflicts. It has also taught us the critical importance of air defence and the need to provide munitions in serious quantities.
That is the reality. Those lessons must be learned quickly. Britain must increase defence spending. We must expand our munitions production and invest in systems that defend our homeland against mass drone and missile attack. We should be stockpiling drones and strengthening ground-based air defences. In time, Britain will need its own equivalent of an iron dome.
However, it is not just about equipment but about people. We need to encourage more young Scots into the defence industry, engineering, advanced manufacturing and apprenticeships in the high-technology drone sector that is reshaping modern warfare. Those are skilled, high-value jobs for the young people of Scotland and they are critical to our national security.
That is why the Scottish National Party’s position is, at times, frustrating, to be frank. Warm words about Ukraine mean little if there is hesitation about the industrial effort that is required to produce the munitions and equipment that Ukraine needs. These are serious times and they demand serious politics.
The international community must remain firm. Sanctions on Russia must not weaken. There are suggestions in the light of tensions in the middle east that oil and gas sanctions should be released. That would be a profound mistake. It would be a betrayal of our values. Russia’s war must not be financed by the revenue that sanctions were designed to constrain. The only way to protect peace is to be strong in the face of aggression. Britain must stand—we must stand—firmly beside Ukraine until the war ends in a just peace and their victory because aggression must never be rewarded.