Lib Dems reveal some of the biggest nationalist failures on the international stage

As the SNP bring a debate on Scotland’s place in the world to Parliament this afternoon, Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie MSP has today revealed some of the biggest failures by the SNP and Greens on the world stage.  

The list of the nationalists’ international failures, which Mr Rennie will read out in the chamber this afternoon, is as follows:

1. Nicola Sturgeon personally signed a deal with China Railway No.3 Engineering Group (CR3) during at a meeting at Bute House. No due diligence was done and it was discovered that CR3 had been blacklisted by the Norwegian state pension fund for gross corruption and were found by Amnesty International to have connections to human rights abuses.
2. Chinese company SinoFortone were also signatories of the same £10 billion deal- later described as “all bollocks” by the chief fixer after it was revealed they only owned a pub in the Cotswolds
3. Scottish Liberal Democrat research in 2022 uncovered that at least 49 public bodies in Scotland were still unaware of the Scottish Government’s human rights tests introduced following those deals with Chinese companies.
4. The Scottish Government continues to use Chinese surveillance cameras, a year after pledging to remove them over security concerns.
5. Former First Minister Alex Salmond kowtowed to China by refusing to meet the Dalai Lama during his visit to Scotland, personally assuring the Chinese ambassador that it had nothing to do with him.
6. On a trip to China, Alex Salmond got an official to buy him a pair of £250 tartan trews because he’d left his own at home. He then tried to claim the trews on expenses and cover it up from the taxpayer.
7. In 2014, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Crimea, Alex Salmond said he had a “certain admiration” for Vladimir Putin, saying that his restoring Russian pride “must be a good thing.”
8. Alex Salmond hosted a long-running show on Kremlin propaganda channel, Russia Today.
9. Alex Salmond agreed to front a new television show on the Turkish channel TRT - described by critics as a “propaganda arm” of the Turkish regime.
10. Current First Minister, Humza Yousaf, courted President Erdogan, inviting him to Scotland despite concerns about civil liberties and human rights abuses.
11. In 2013, as International Development Minister, Humza Yousaf visited Qatar in 2013 but failed to raise the case of imprisoned poet, Mohammed al-Ajami, despite visiting a poetry festival in the region.
12. SNP minister, Fergus Ewing, held an unrecorded dinner with disgraced Australian banker Lex Greensill amid financial deals that have exposed taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds.
13. Dodged questions about whether Government-owned Prestwick Airport was once used for US rendition flights, the subject of a 10-year long investigation.
14. The SNP wants an independent Scotland to join nuclear alliance NATO while simultaneously rejecting nuclear weapons.
15. Breaching international minimum standards on the age of criminal responsibility
16. In 2015, the Scottish Greens passed a motion at their conference calling for Hamas to be taken off the international terror list.
17. Pledges to create a Peace Institute, before cancelling the whole project because they’d run out of money.

Mr Rennie said:

“Whether they’re praising Putin, getting duped by Chinese firms, removing Hamas from the terrorist list or flirting with Erdogan, the nationalists and greens embarrass Scotland on the world stage.

“People need a government that can help them see a GP, bring down bills and ensure their children get the education they need to succeed. They’re fed up with a government that lets standards slip whilst playing dress-up diplomat."