By Lisa West
Harriet Cross, pictured right, the Conservative member for Gordon and Buchan, warned of a “dangerous escalation” in attacks on the Scottish defence sector, citing incidents at Leonardo UK in Edinburgh, Bruntons Aero Products in Musselburgh, Ultra I&C in Aberdeenshire and Kelvinside Electronics in Kilsyth, all of which she described as having links to Israel.
Faslane and Coulport at HM Naval Base Clyde or other sites in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute are not included in the list.
The pro-Palestinian group The List has claimed responsibility for vandalising the homes of two defence workers in Dunfermline and South Queensferry earlier this month, and has threatened to target more employees.
Cross told the Home Secretary that the attacks form part of a wider rise in antisemitism across the United Kingdom, pointing out that the Community Security Trust recorded 1,926 antisemitic incidents in 2026, up 21 per cent on the previous year.
She has asked ministers for an urgent meeting to discuss how to protect the industry, its workforce and the wider Jewish community in Scotland.
“This is not peaceful protest. It is blatant criminality and intimidation, and those responsible must face the full weight of the law.
“These attacks cannot be viewed in isolation, nor as relating solely to the defence sector. They form part of a wider climate of a rising tide of antisemitism across the United Kingdom.
“The Home Secretary needs to work with Police Scotland, the Ministry of Defence and the SNP government to protect the defence industry, its employees and the wider Jewish community in Scotland.”
Scottish defence sites have been targeted repeatedly over the past two years, and a van was driven into the Leonardo plant in Edinburgh by activists who then damaged the building. Leonardo’s Edinburgh site produces targeting and laser systems, and employs around two thousand people in the city.