Ferret Underground: All Summer Long

Hi ,

As Summer comes to an end (face it, it's over!), your newsletter writer is in a reflective mood.

We've achieved quite a lot in recent months.

We published our first climate fact checking series, launched our register of Common Good funds, concluded our Mind the Health Gap series with some excellent podcasts, continued our examination of the Sheku Bayoh inquiry, revealed Scotland's Secret Owners in our investigative series, and exposed the fossil fuel links funding Edinburgh Book Festival, leading to Greta Thunberg pulling out.

Not bad. Here's to a similarly impactful end to the year.

The Scottish Government has given over £8m in public grants to companies exhibiting at a London arms fair hosting states accused of human rights violations.

DSEI, which is taking place in London this week, is one of the world’s biggest arms fairs. The event is organised by arms dealers in collaboration with UK Defence and Security Exports, the UK Government’s arms promotion unit.

It will be attended by hundreds of arms companies, and the guest list includes countries condemned by human rights groups such as Amnesty International, including Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE and Uzbekistan.

Critics of DSEI described it as a “marketplace of death and destruction” and a “shameful festival of violence”.