SCOTLAND is being “short-changed” and not seeing its fair share of arms spending, according to the SNP.

The party, whose leader John Swinney has campaigned under the banner “bairns not bombs,” points to analysis from the House of Commons Library showing that some areas of England see as much as three times more in military spending per person than Scotland.

The figures show that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) admitted to £31.7bn in spending with defence firms in 2024-25, amounting to £460 per capita across the UK. Of that, some £6.6bn was spent in south-west England, and £7.9bn in south-east England, equivalent to £1,120 per capita and £810 per capita respectively.

The spend in Scotland last year with arms manufacturers such as BAe Systems was however was £2.1bn, amounting to £390 per head, a figure the SNP’s Westminster defence spokesperson Dave Doogan branded “indefensible.”

“What these new figures on defence spending clearly demonstrate is Scotland is being short-changed by Westminster – quite frankly it is indefensible for the Labour government to plough three times more cash into defence in the south-west of England compared to Scotland,” he said.

“Despite all the condescending bragging from the Prime Minister and a string of Labour ministers about their supposed investment in Scottish defence, the official figures are in black and white and they don’t lie.

“Snarky Westminster politicians continually demand Scotland’s unquestioning gratitude despite Scottish taxpayers contributing every penny that we then ultimately receive in defence expenditure, but now we know the truth – thankfully international investors continue to show their confidence by placing significant orders.”

Back in August, a multi-billion pound contract was secured by BAe Systems to build at least five new warships for the Norwegian navy at the “frigate factory” - itself constructed to enable the building of eight Royal Navy frigates over the coming decade.

Arguing “engineering excellence, design quality, competitiveness and innovation” was “precisely why the Norwegian government placed their £10bn frigate order here in Scotland”, he added:

“In so doing Norway have ensured thousands of jobs in Scotland into the future while equipping their Navy with the world’s best anti-submarine ship.

“Scotland is home to some of the world’s most advanced manufacturers despite a Westminster system that constantly short-changes us.”

The British government was approached for comment.