THE First Minister John Swinney has condemned Donald Trump's shocking plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, permanently settle the vast majority of its almost 2 million Palestinian residents in neighbouring countries, and for the United States to take ownership of the territory.
Trump pointedly refused to rule out using the US military to clear out and occupy Gaza. Trump suggested that Gaza could be redeveloped into the "Riviera of the Middle East" and could be resettled by "the people of the world."
He claimed that the Palestinians could live "in peace and harmony” elsewhere and insisted that the only reason they wished to return to Gaza was because they had nowhere else to go.
The US President made the remarks during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he also said that an announcement would be made in a few weeks about Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer dodges call to speak to White House over Donald Trump's Gaza plans
The First Minister responded to the plan on social media, writing: "The death of over 40,000 in Gaza, any suggestion Palestinians should be removed from their home is unacceptable and dangerous.
“There must be no ethnic cleansing.
“Only a proper two state solution will bring lasting peace."
With his evident desire to transform Gaza into some sort of luxury resort, complete no doubt with a Trump golf course, presumably with low level service jobs for those few Palestinians permitted to remain, Trump's Middle East peace plan could be summarised as: From the river to the sea, Palestinians will serve the rich Chablis. Or at least, those who haven't been ethnically cleansed.
It's not just the Scottish First Minister who has condemned Trump's shocking plan, which runs a coach and horses through international law and takes the world back to the days of the naked colonialism of the 19th century, when powerful nations felt perfectly entitled to help themselves to the territory of weaker nations. It has also been condemned by the leadership of Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, all major players in the Middle East. It has also been condemned by China, while the Irish Government stressed that it would breach UN Security Council resolutions.
Meanwhile, for the British Government, Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - no, I'd never heard of him either - was dispatched to do the rounds on the morning media stressing that the “UK government’s position is that Palestinian civilians must be able to return to their homes and rebuild their lives."
Notably missing was any condemnation of Trump's lawless land-grab or any mention of what it really amounts to, ethnic cleansing and the destruction of Palestinians as a nation - genocide. As of 11.30 am, when the condemnation of national leaders was ringing around the globe, Keir Starmer was nowhere to be seen. Yet again the Scottish Government is providing the moral leadership which is so conspicuously absent from Keir Starmer.
By 11.10 am, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy had crept out of hiding to say it should be ensured that Palestinians have a future in their homeland. From the British Government there was still no direct condemnation of a plan that is clearly against international law and constitutes a crime against humanity.
The issue will be the first big test of the fragile relationship between Starmer and Trump, because Trump has just torn up American support for the two-state solution, which Starmer and the global community have always said is essential to peace in the Middle East.
You might have thought that the issue would figure prominently at PMQs in the House of Commons, but it wasn't raised by Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch, who chose to rant about the Chagos Islands and so-called "eco-Nazis" instead. It took Lib Dem leader Ed Davies to ask if Starmer thought Trump understood the danger of such comments. Notably Starmer declined to criticise Trump's plan, or call it ethnic cleansing, he merely made a mild remark about Palestinians being allowed to return to their homes.
Meanwhile, in another illustration of the principle free zone which is the Labour party, Scottish branch manager Anas Sarwar refused to rule out accepting the support of Reform UK in order to become First Minister.
Pushed on whether he would take Reform votes to secure power, Sarwar told journalists at an event in Edinburgh that he would not “get into the mathematics” of next year’s vote, however he insisted that Labour would not work with Reform on an official basis. Presumably they'll just come to a cosy backroom arrangement with the hard right English nationalist party like Labour does with the Tories in local authorities across Scotland.
It has been reported today that a group of Labour MPs have written to Starmer urging him to be tougher on immigration in order to appeal to voters who are shifting to support Reform UK. Labour's response to the rise of the hard right is to shift further to the right itself. No one apart from the SNP is now making the positive case for immigration and pointing out that issues with housing and access to NHS services are not the product of immigration but rather of Tory austerity and policies designed to benefit the wealthy, policies which Reform UK will only double down on.
(Image: PA)
The SNP's deputy Westminster leader Pete Wishart has written to the Electoral Commission asking them to launch an investigation into foreign donations received by the Labour party. It came to light over the weekend that Starmer abandoned Labour's previous promise to ban foreign donations to British political parties after an intervention in late 2023 by Labour donor Lord Alli - the man who paid for Starmer's suits. An investigation last year by Open Democracy revealed that the Labour Party’s largest-ever donation – some £4 million - came from a hedge fund linked to the Cayman Islands. It is uncertain what prompted Alli to press Starmer to U-turn.
Starmer's refusal to ban foreign donations leaves British politics at risk of being subverted by malign actors like Elon Musk, the billionaire fan of the far right who is currently taking over various US government departments.
British politics are corrupt and morally bankrupt. Scotland needs out.
