No. There were no formal discussions between the Scottish Government and European Union member states—

I thank Bill Kidd for securing this important debate, and I pay genuine tribute to all the members, across the parties, who have spoken so powerfully. Only last week, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said:

“Attacks on civilians in Gaza—including the killing and injury of hungry people seeking food and those delivering aid—are unacceptable.”

A former UK ambassador to Lebanon and senior adviser to two UK Prime Ministers, Tom Fletcher understands intimately the responsibility of the international community towards the world’s most vulnerable citizens.

The Scottish Government condemns in the strongest terms the killings in Gaza of civilians who lost their lives while queuing for food and trying to get aid for their families. Gazans are faced with an impossible choice between risking death by starvation and risking death by gunfire. It is totally unacceptable and it has to stop.

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment confirms that the entire population of Gaza faces high levels of acute food insecurity. Half a million people—one in five—face starvation, and children under five are at the highest risk.

The situation is entirely man made and was entirely preventable. Israel’s approach to delivering aid via private contractors has failed tragically. Israel’s plan to entrust the distribution of aid in Gaza to private contractors contravenes humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. The plan risks militarising aid and exacerbating inequalities. It is unconscionable that 2 million people are starving in the Gaza Strip while tonnes of food is being blocked at the border. Israel must now allow humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to conduct their life-saving work unimpeded and at scale.

The Scottish Government has been consistent and forthright in calling for an immediate and sustained ceasefire. Like any other country, Israel has a right to protect itself and its citizens from terror, and the Scottish Government has repeatedly and unreservedly condemned the brutality of Hamas on 7 October 2023 and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli and other hostages. However, in exercising its right to defend itself, Israel must abide by international humanitarian law. Israel’s military action has gone far beyond any legitimate response.

We have been consistent in calling for unimpeded access to Gaza for humanitarian aid, for Israel to comply with international court rulings and for accountability for those who are responsible for atrocities, wherever they occur. Scottish Government ministers have repeatedly called for an end to licensed arms exports to Israel. We do not believe that there is a case for sending more weapons to Israel. The UN Security Council has called for a ceasefire. Ministers have made it clear that, by continuing to arm Israel, the UK is in danger of being complicit in killing innocent civilians.

I will be happy to update Monica Lennon, but I must tell her what really needs to happen. On 2 September 2024, the UK Government announced the suspension of 30 export licences for the export of arms to Israel for use in military operations in Gaza. That was welcome, but we have made it clear that the suspension should go much further and should cover all such licences. That would obviate the need for questions such as the one that Monica Lennon has just raised. However, I have given her an undertaking and I will reply to her in detail.

People in Gaza are being bombed and left to starve by Israel on a massive scale. Sadly, the rhetoric of some Israeli politicians is becoming increasingly extreme, and the trickle of aid that is being delivered by private contractors is inadequate and inhumane. The approach of bombing hospitals and targeting humanitarian workers is appalling and clearly incompatible with international humanitarian law, and it must cease immediately. The international community cannot allow the situation to continue. It must take decisive action now.

The Scottish Government has repeatedly called for the UK Government to officially recognise the state of Palestine, to break the political impasse that has condemned Israelis and Palestinians to successive cycles of violence. The First Minister called on the UK to review its position following the welcome decision last year by Ireland, Norway, Spain and Slovenia to recognise the state of Palestine. They have joined more than 140 other states in doing so. It is therefore regrettable, given the growing international consensus around recognition, that the UN conference on a two-state solution, which had been due to take place this week in New York under the co-chairmanship of France and Saudi Arabia, has been postponed.

Recognition would offer hope to Palestinians that a just and durable political solution is possible, and it would allow Israel and Gaza to move towards long-term peace and stability, which is in the interests of all. I made that position clear during a members’ business debate on 26 June last year, and I repeat that position today. Katy Clark was right to recall that we both voted for the recognition of Palestine in the House of Commons in 2014. Only a two-state solution will bring lasting peace and enable Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side in peace and security.

I thank members for their measured and thoughtful contributions to the debate. We must amplify our voices in calling for immediate humanitarian support for the people of Gaza.

Today saw the UK national Srebrenica memorial day ceremony, which marked the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. The ceremony took place in St Paul’s cathedral, in London, earlier today. Fifty years after the world said, “Never again,” to the horrors of the Holocaust, a genocide took place on European soil against Bosnian Muslims. Now, 30 years on from the murder of thousands of unarmed men, women and children in Srebrenica, we are again forced to ask ourselves what we will actively do. We must do all in our power to end the horror in Gaza—and, yes, that includes working to secure the release of all hostages. Doing nothing is not an option.

The Scottish Government will work with parliamentarians of all parties to support a ceasefire, to end the suffering of Gazans, to secure the release of the hostages and to secure a viable peace for both Palestine and the Israelis.

I am pleased to confirm that there has been ministerial and official engagement before and since the launch of the UK strategic defence review. Defence policy is reserved, but the security and safety of people in Scotland are the top priority for this Government, and that is why we have taken an active and constructive role in the strategic defence review process, from its initial stages last year—when the First Minister wrote, on 30 September 2024, to Lord Robertson, who led the review, with the Scottish Government’s response to the SDR’s propositions—through to the ministerial discussions taking place in the days before and since the SDR was published on 3 June.

I assure Daniel Johnson that efforts are under way to optimise relations, which will maximise resilience. That requires developing existing and emerging relationships between the UK Government, devolved Administrations and a range of agencies and departments.

I would like to give Daniel Johnson the confidence that that work is being progressed and that there is a shared interest in doing so. I will be happy to update him on that progress.

On 30 May, I met the Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Paymaster General and Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations. That meeting followed our previous meeting on 20 May, at which we discussed announcements arising from the European Union-United Kingdom summit. The announcements included a common understanding detailing policy measures that both sides have committed to as we take the new strategic partnership forward; a joint statement that sets out UK-EU co-operation across global issues and commits to annual leader-level summits; and a security and defence partnership that will formalise UK-EU foreign policy co-operation, allowing for greater collaboration on defence industry work. Currently, I have no planned meetings with UK ministers.

The Scottish Government continues to seek a principled and pragmatic approach to engagement with the UK Government. Although the current relationship with the UK Government is more productive and constructive than it was with its predecessor, areas of significant concern remain, most notably in relation to information sharing and substantive discussion around significant developments such as the US trade deal and the EU reset deal, which were both announced without sufficient engagement with the devolved Governments.

There are also a number of areas in which the UK Government is falling short on its commitment to reset intergovernmental relations by failing to take account of Scotland’s needs in its work on areas such as eradicating child poverty, migration and the internal market act review. It is imperative that information sharing and engagement with the Scottish Government are both sustained and meaningful to maximise the potential for positive outcomes for the people of Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that festivals and events are vital to local economies, especially when they are community-led ones with strong social and cultural value. The economic importance of festivals in every part of Scotland is best described by the festivals themselves: Orkney’s St Magnus international festival adds £1.3 million to the local economy each year, and Wigtown book festival generates an estimated £4.3 million annually.

The importance that the Government places on festivals is underlined by the number of festivals that receive support from Creative Scotland’s multiyear funding programme and by our commitment to work with festivals across the country through a strategic partnership.

I commend Paul O’Kane for asking that question and putting on record his condolences, which I share, to the family, friends and colleagues of Betty Cunningham, the former provost of East Renfrewshire. Her long commitment to supporting projects in Malawi was widely recognised, including through her receipt of an OBE for services to East Renfrewshire and to Malawi. I pay particular tribute to the Betty Cunningham International Trust, which she established and which built a health clinic and nursery schools. There is much to commend in her lifetime of work and commitment to the people of both East Renfrewshire and Malawi.

I think that I am right in saying that the Perth museum has been shortlisted for an award, which I am sure all of us would welcome, and I look forward to taking up the member’s invitation and going.

I also think that I am right in saying that the Deputy First Minister leads on the city deal programme, but I am happy to share Murdo Fraser’s encouragement with her. If city deal projects are on the agenda for the next meetings that I have with relevant UK Government ministers, I will be happy to report back to Murdo Fraser at future portfolio question times.