Independent Green Scotland would be a voice for peace
With the powers of independence Scotland could be a voice for peace on the world stage, says the Scottish Greens external affairs spokesperson Ross Greer MSP.
Mr Greer’s comments came as the Scottish Government released ‘An independent Scotland’s place in the world’, the latest paper in the Building a New Scotland series.
The Scottish Greens have proposed that an independent Scotland would ban arms sales to states such as Israel who have been credibly accused of war crimes and that sanctions such as travel bans and financial restrictions be placed on the Israeli government and military officials.
The party would also have an independent Scotland sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and provide support to nations such as Ukraine who face foreign military aggression.
Mr Greer said: “Over the last 150 days the UK has played an utterly shameful role in arming, supporting and enabling Israel’s genocide against the people of Palestine. Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 12,000 children, but Westminster has refused to act to stop the slaughter.
“The Scottish Government rightly took a very different position, but the huge constraints of devolution limit our voice on global affairs as well as the practical role we could play in pushing for peace.
“With the powers of independence, Scotland could finally move on from a failed British approach to foreign policy based on military aggression. We could end arms sales to human rights abusing regimes like Israel and Saudi Arabia while pushing for international sanctions against those who commit war crimes.
“If Scotland were an independent nation today I’m sure we would be working alongside others like Ireland, Spain and South Africa who are actively pushing for peace and justice in Palestine. Instead, we are stuck in a UK which is thoroughly complicit in the horrific crimes being inflicted on the people of Gaza.
“With independence we could remove the moral abomination of the Trident nuclear arsenal and use the billions being wasted on these weapons of mass killing to invest in public services like our NHS and in tackling the biggest security threat we will ever face, the climate crisis.”