Police Remove Pro-Palestinian Protesters From John Swinney Edinburgh Fringe Event

At an Edinburgh Fringe event, First Minister John Swinney's discussion with comedian Susan Morrison was disrupted five times by six groups of pro-Palestinian protesters. The demonstrators held up signs spelling "genocide" and urged Swinney to stop funding arms companies through Scottish Enterprise, the government's commercial arm, while labeling the crisis in Gaza as a genocide. Tensions escalated between protesters and other attendees, prompting police intervention and the involvement of the First Minister's security team to prevent crowd confrontations. Throughout the protests, Swinney remained silent and did not engage with the protesters. Police ultimately removed the demonstrators to restore order at the event. The repeated disruptions highlighted ongoing public dissent regarding government involvement in arms funding and responses to the Gaza crisis.