Chamber and committees

I am genuinely confused by this. I did a little simple research and found that, for example, Margaret Thatcher’s Government condemned apartheid on a number of occasions. Famously, Margaret Thatcher, when she met Archbishop Desmond Tutu, condemned apartheid. She condemned apartheid in 1984 during a visit to the United Kingdom by P W Botha, the South African leader. The UK Government was also involved in sanctioning South Africa, so I am not entirely sure what that paragraph refers to.

Specifically, how do the constraints around financial transactions limit what you are able to support?

Thanks very much. I am sure that we can return to that issue, convener.

No. So, this is all about Israel, is it not? That is exactly what the whole debate and the legislation are about: they are about Israel, which, for some reason, is being singled out by campaigners when all those other repressive regimes are being ignored. Over the past few weeks, particularly since 7 October, we have seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic activity. I have certainly spoken to members of the Jewish community in Glasgow who say that they have never experienced such a hostile environment as the one that they are experiencing today. They feel unsafe in Scotland. You will have read the submission, I am sure, from the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, which shows overwhelming support for the bill and which opposes the action that the Scottish Government is taking. Are you not concerned that, in opposing the bill, the perception will be that you are giving succour to antisemitic sentiments when, you should instead be giving reassurance to the Scottish Jewish community, given that it feels more threatened than it has done at any point in the past 40 years?

Good morning, minister and colleagues. I have a number of short questions, and I hope that we will get short answers.

First, minister, would you accept that international affairs and matters of international trade are reserved to the UK Parliament?

Thank you. In your memorandum, at paragraph 20, you refer to the UK Government: which UK Government are you referring to?

Okay. Thanks. The just transition fund that SNIB handles is predominantly, as I understand it, in financial transactions. I am interested to understand how limiting that is for the support that you are able to offer to projects. For example, in evidence, Moray Council told us:

“there will be less appetite for financial transactions though the Scottish National Investment Bank, the current scheme simply mirrors funding that was already available for such purposes, it also limits public sector organisations involvement in the interventions as there are other sources of funding for such works but loans are not attractive compared to capital grants.”

That reflects some of the evidence that we heard earlier. What are the constraints around financial transactions funding, and how do those impact on the sort of projects that you can support?

I can perhaps understand why the Scottish Government would have taken that view before 7 October, but we are in a very different situation now.

The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities says in its submission:

“we…urge the Scottish Parliament to take note of the vulnerability and anxiety of many Jewish people in Scotland as demonstrated by the large majority view among the Scottish Jewish community in support of the Westminster Bill, and so reject the Scottish Government Legislative Consent Memorandum”.

That was written before 7 October. I imagine that, if we were to ask the council today, we would get a much, much stronger response. Do you not think that, given what has happened, you are on the wrong side of the argument?

Okay. Thank you, minister.

Fergus Mutch, you are a member of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. What has been its relationship with SNIB, and is there enough transparency around access to funding?