Graeme Downie MP has criticised the Scottish Government for failing to showcase Scotland’s defence sector at this year’s Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) in London.
In a post on X, the Labour MP for Dunfermline & Dollar wrote: “Defence is one of Scotland’s most successful industries but the SNP chose to snub the sector’s largest trade show. Wales and Northern Ireland governments were there while the SNP failed Scottish workers. All because of their childish policies.”
Downie’s comments echo reporting in The Times, which noted that the SNP sent only officials to the biennial exhibition, leaving Scotland as the only UK nation without a public-facing presence.
The paper reported that the Welsh Government ran a prominent stand with the slogan “this is business, this is Wales”, while Northern Ireland also highlighted its defence sector next to the UK Government exhibit.
Speaking to The Times, Downie said: “The SNP needs to stop treating our world-leading defence industry as some sort of dirty secret. Defence is one of Scotland’s largest and most successful industries and DSEI is the largest opportunity to secure investment, but because of the SNP’s absurd policy on defence there is no Scottish presence here. The SNP Scottish government is failing Scottish companies and workforce.”
You can read the full Times article here: The SNP has been accused of treating the defence industry as a “dirty secret”.
Sadly, I thought the Scottish Government’s petulance had been replaced by maturity in terms of how increasingly powerful their country is becoming in the warship-building and technology business.
Just because Scotland didn’t buy signage doesn’t mean Scottish companies weren’t represented as individuals; also there was a large UK branded presence. Scotland may have suffered in terms of international publicity, but perhaps it feels it doesn’t need it. It’s a reasonable choice. You could equally be asking, where was branding suggesting than you to come to rainy England for all your defence needs? How will English companies survive under a Union Jack rather than the St George’s Cross?
And as I posted it I just twigged the irony of suggesting that the SNP were happy enough with unionist representation. Had Downie pointed out that was the alternative, perhaps the SNP would have paid for the St Andrew’s bunting after all.
Defence is a reserved matter and therefore the industries have more to do with UK MoD than with Holyrood. There is of course a shared interest. Holyrood has no financial control over defence so while there are useful defence companies which may continue in the event of independence, including building ships for foreign navies, it is more of a watching brief than anything direct. A moot question would be if the exhibition was flagged under the Union flag then why were there no St George’s crosses used instead? British Aerospace is well represented across the world and in the ship building industries as well as hi tech in the air. BAe has its own facilities in Scotland anyway,