AN MP for Alex Salmond’s Alba party has demanded an end to the sale of Scottish made weapons to Saudi Arabia even though it could affect the jobs of his Fife constituents.
Neale Hanvey said Scots defence workers should not have to make weapons that could be used by Saudi Arabian in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The Saudi regime has been accused of committing violations of International Humanitarian Law in its neighbour, where military operations have repeatedly killed civilians.
The UK is the world’s second largest arms exporter to Saudi Arabia after the USA, and the weapons sold to it include the laser-guided Paveway IV bomb, key parts of which are made at the Raytheon factory in Glenrothes.
The site is just a few minutes’ drive from Mr Hanvey’s neighbouring Westminster seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, and an important high-wage employer in the wider area.
In a statement, Mr Hanvey said that Saudi armed forces were using UK built and licenced arms in Yemen, including Typhoon aircraft, missiles and bombs.
The Typhoon can be armed with air-to-air Sidewinder missiles, air-to-ground Storm Shadow missiles and bombs including the Paveway IV.
Mr Hanvey said all these weapons were “manufactured or assembled at Defence Munitions Beith in North Ayrshire”, but failed to mention the local Fife connection.
The leader of Alba’s two-MP team at Westminster, he said: “For too long now the UK Government has been allowed to profiteer on the back of suffering in Yemen.
“In Scotland we believe that our armed forces should be used to defend our land, our shores and to support peace efforts where possible.
“It is time for the UK Government to come clean about its weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and set out how many weapons have been built in Scotland which have then been sold to Saudi Arabia.
"It is time for an immediate end to this practice.
“The Tories have decimated the UK international aid budget but instead of exporting weapons, which can only prolong conflict, the UK Government should be increasing funding to international aid so that we can play our part in promoting peaceful settlements in areas of conflict in the world.”
A Saudi-led coalition of Gulf states began bombing Yemen in March 2015 after its government was overthrown by rebels sponsored by the Kingdom’s main regional rival, Iran.
Since then thousands of civilians have died in a civil war dubbed Saudi Arabia’s Vietnam.
Mr Hanvey was elected in 2019 as an independent with a 1,243-vote majority after the SNP withdraw its support for him over an anti-Semitism row.
He was then allowed back into the party fold, but defected to Alba in 2021.
He is expected to struggle to hold the seat for Alba in the next election.
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