John Swinney's talk of US military ban at Prestwick is worst kind of political grandstanding
Martyn McLaughlin has long documented the US military’s use of Prestwick Airport and is unimpressed by the First Minister’s latest pronouncement
As someone who has written about Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s ties to the US defence apparatus on and off for the past decade, it was a surprise to hear First Minister John Swinney’s announcement at the weekend that he would “explore” the possibility of banning American military flights from using the airport if it transpires they are involved in strikes in the Middle East.
For years, successive SNP administrations, including Mr Swinney’s, have ducked out of awkward geopolitical issues relating to the airport by insisting that it is a commercial organisation run at arm’s length, with no ministers intervening in its commercial decisions.
This rote response allowed the Scottish Government to skip around difficult questions during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, when US military traffic through South Ayrshire skyrocketed, with numerous crews staying at the US president’s Turnberry resort.
Ministers hide behind quango
Seven years ago, I reported allegations that Prestwick was waiving service fees for inbound US armed forces aircraft so as to bolster traffic and safeguard its commercial relationship with the US Department of Defence.
At the time, airport executives refused to release any information held, claiming that the public interest of disclosure did not outweigh Prestwick’s own commercial interests. For its part, the Scottish Government hid behind its quango, Transport Scotland, which duly rolled out the arm’s length line.
Even though the political pressure issue ebbed away, the US military’s use of Prestwick for refuelling remains constant. US federal government spending records show that over the course of 2024 and last year, the Pentagon’s obligations to the South Ayrshire airport amounted to $42 million (£31.2m). Between October 2017 and May 2023, the sum was $85.7m (£63.7m)
It is an open secret that without these aviation fuel sales, the economics of Prestwick would be disastrous. It generates modest sums from passenger services and cargo flights – around £6m and £3m a year respectively – but the amount it receives in fuel sales alone accounts for almost half its £49.5m annual revenues.
So what has changed to prompt Mr Swinney’s shift in rhetoric? Only last month, Holyrood heard a Greens debate on the US military’s use of Scottish airports, during which Angus Robertson, the Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, noted that foreign affairs, defence, national security and air transport policy powers are all reserved.
Trump’s disregard for international law
Has Mr Swinney learned of amendments to the Scotland Act that have passed the rest of the nation by, or is he simply engaging in gesture politics masquerading as diplomacy? If the SNP leader was at all serious about the issue, he would engage with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, given the state-owned Shannon Airport in Co Clare is also a major conduit for US military flights; were it to impose its own ban, as it has the power to do, it would see an upsurge in stopovers at Prestwick.
I have no doubt that Mr Swinney, like many people in Scotland, is utterly aghast at the flagrant disregard for international law shown by the Trump administration in recent weeks. But after years of relying on the arms-length excuse, the pretence that his government can simply veto the use of Prestwick by the US is, at best, grandstanding. At worst, it is deeply disingenuous.
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