Meeting of the Parliament 18 June 2025
I could not agree more with Daniel Johnson. It is about a patriotic duty. It might not be fashionable in the SNP, or in the Scottish Greens, to talk about patriotic duty, but that is exactly what this is about.
The SNP claims to stand with Ukraine and it claims to care about national security. The SNP loves the rhetoric, yet its actions, which always speak louder than words, undermine the very sector that makes the munitions and builds the ships and systems that will help Ukraine to win and help Britain and our allies to defend ourselves. Nowhere is that hypocrisy more grotesque than in the saga of the NHS equipment donation to Ukraine. The SNP Government boasted about that gesture, only for it to be revealed last weekend that it had stipulated that the equipment must not be used to treat wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
That defies all common decency, let alone common sense. Imagine telling a Ukrainian medic in a field hospital that they can use the equipment to treat civilians but not the soldier lying next to them with a catastrophic injury. That is ideological dogma gone mad, and it is not neutrality—it is ideological extremism dressed up as moral superiority.
It is a morally incoherent stance that insults our allies, weakens our national resilience and strengthens our enemies, as well as betraying our duties as a member of NATO. It is absurd, morally bankrupt and strategically reckless. The SNP Government must drop its policy of excluding defence projects from public support. The Parliament should send a clear message that Scotland backs our armed forces, stands with our allies and supports the industries that keep us safe and free. Anything less is a betrayal of our responsibilities at home and abroad.
16:33