Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2026 [Draft]
When Prestwick airport was nationalised, in 2013, the then Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, presented it to the Parliament as an opportunity to revitalise the aviation industry in the west of Scotland. In the hopeful pre-referendum days, we were encouraged to imagine how Prestwick could become a hub for international travel, global business and, possibly, even space flight. We were told that it would be an airport for Scotland and that it would create jobs and build skills and expertise in industries for the future.
Few of us in the chamber today could have predicted how much the world would change in the 13 years that came after. Nor could we have anticipated that, instead of a hub for holidaymakers, the publicly owned airport would become a major de facto military base of an aggressive foreign air force under the control of a rogue and unstable leader. Donald Trump’s United States has shown repeated contempt for international law, human rights and democracy at home and around the world. Some of his worst offences are taking place right now—against his own citizens. Innocent people are being shot at point-blank range in broad daylight for standing up to the harassment and threats of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. Tens of thousands of people—including thousands of children—are being held indefinitely by the state in inhumane conditions and are being denied access to adequate food, fresh air, exercise and even basic sanitation facilities. If that was happening in any other country, we would be denouncing the rise of fascism and calling on the international community to cut ties and take action.
On the global scene, Trump has waved in a new era of heavy-handed neo-imperialism. From the illegal invasion and removal of the president in Venezuela to his repeated threats to the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark, Trump has made it clear that international norms will not curtail his personal pursuit of wealth, power and control. Only last month, his military ignored a decision by Scotland’s Court of Session and kidnapped two foreign citizens from our waters. We later learned that it likely used Scotland’s own publicly owned airports to support the operation. That cannot be allowed to continue. That is not what the communities around Prestwick were promised. It is not how the people of the Highlands and Islands want their lifeline airports to be used, and it is not what the public in Scotland deserve for our nationally owned assets.
Our motion today focuses on Prestwick because that is where the problem is most acute. Between 1 April 2025 and 12 February 2026, the United States military landed at Prestwick airport 565 times. Military flights have landed on most days, sometimes multiple times per day, with the busiest day, in May 2025, witnessing 15 landings. The data shows clear patterns, with the number of flights peaking alongside known US military operations. In January, when the US military seized the Marinera oil tanker in Scottish waters, landings by the US military were up 76 per cent on the previous month. Last summer saw sustained activity at the airport, which coincided with the US military’s bombing of Iran during the 12-day war with Israel.