Our Vision

International Affairs

A good global citizen

Scotland’s place in Europe matters to us as a nation and being part of a wider European family of nations has brought us benefits. We continue to believe that EU membership is the best option for Scotland.

A hard Brexit has delivered the worst of all worlds hindering the UK’s ability to recover from the Covid pandemic and responding to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. An independent Scotland as the EU and NATO’s newest member will put rocket boosters on our recovery post-Covid and allow us to play a crucial role in Euro-Atlantic security.

We believe that Scotland needs a tailored approach to migration, one that is made in Scotland and is accountable to the people who live here. The SNP will continue to seek devolution of immigration powers so that Scotland can have an immigration policy that works for our economy and society. And we will stand firm against the demonisation of migrants.

In government we are working to ensure Scotland is a good global citizen. We have doubled Scotland’s International Development Fund to £10 million per annum, and trebled the Climate Justice Fund to support countries that will be worst affected by climate change.

We are committed to ensuring Scotland plays its part in resolving international refugee crises. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon has urged the UK Government to waive all visa requirements for any Ukrainian nationals seeking refuge in the UK.

We will continue to put human rights and the rights of women at the heart of Scotland’s international relations work as we begin implementing a Feminist Foreign Policy. We’re proud that the UN asked Scotland to lead on a women’s peacemaking initiative for Syria and we will continue building on this progress by training at least 50 women every year from international conflict zones in prevention and resolution of conflict. The Scottish Government has also recently supported a new climate change focused fellowship promoting equal participation in climate-induced conflict resolution.

We oppose spending billions each year on the Trident nuclear weapons system and continue to oppose the uplift in numbers of nuclear warheads. We want to see Trident removed from Scotland’s shores. We will instead seek to have that money invested in public services and in support for jobs and services at Faslane. We believe that an independent Scotland’s security and safety is best guaranteed as a non-nuclear member of NATO, just like Denmark and Norway and most members of the alliance.

The SNP are committed to the pledge that an independent Scotland would spend 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) on foreign aid with a view towards utilising this more effectively than the UK has since the merger of DFID and the FCO.