{"id":8864,"date":"2026-09-03T14:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/8864\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T14:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:34:20","slug":"quakers-in-scotland-concerned-over-military-spending-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/8864\/","title":{"rendered":"Quakers in Scotland concerned over military spending plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quakers in Scotland have raised concerns over plans to grow Scotland’s military industry, in the Scottish government’s newly published five-year Programme for Government (PFG). <\/p>\n

\"Modern
\nQuakers in Scotland have raised concerns over plans to grow Scotland’s military industry, in the Scottish government’s newly published five-year Programme for Government (PFG). <\/p>\n

They say it clashes with the Scottish government’s own commitment to be a good global citizen providing humanitarian aid to people affected by conflict and considering the international impact of domestic policy.<\/p>\n

The PFG commits to a “responsible defence industrial growth programme.”<\/p>\n

[QUOTE-START]<\/p>\n

Responsible defence spending must mean full transparency about where public money ends up<\/p>\n

– Pleasaunce Perry, clerk, Quakers in Scotland<\/p>\n

[QUOTE-END]<\/p>\n

Public money already supports Scottish firms making arms components for conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere. <\/p>\n

Quakers in Scotland say the potential increase in military spending makes it more urgent than ever for the Scottish government to show that public money isn’t fuelling human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

This summer, Quakers in Scotland wrote to Cabinet Secretary for Economy Stephen Flynn<\/a>. <\/p>\n

They asked him to ensure the release in full the findings of a review into how Scottish Enterprise checks its grants aren’t funding weapons used in human rights abuses. <\/p>\n

The review is complete, but the findings remain private. Quakers in Scotland say they are still waiting for a reply.<\/p>\n

Pleasaunce Perry, clerk of Quakers in Scotland, said: “Our faith teaches us that there is that of God in everyone, so every life lost to conflict matters. <\/p>\n

\u201cResponsible defence spending must mean full transparency about where public money ends up so Scotland is not left complicit, even indirectly, in grave human rights abuses.”<\/p>\n

Quakers in Scotland are also disappointed that the PFG does not call for an end to new North Sea oil and gas. <\/p>\n

Instead, it says ministers will call on the UK government to take “an evidence-led and case-by-case approach” to North Sea projects.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Government has shifted in recent years from a tougher stance against new fossil fuel extraction, though a promised refreshed energy strategy could offer room to push for change.<\/p>\n

There was a warmer welcome for plans to increase the Climate Justice Fund, which includes support for communities in the Global South hit by climate loss and damage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quakers in Scotland have raised concerns over plans to grow Scotland’s military industry, in the Scottish government’s newly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5205,38,14,5204],"class_list":["post-8864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-climate","tag-defence","tag-defence-industry","tag-scotland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}