Scottish Parliament debate on Nae Pasaran! - Sep 13

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-13663, in the name of Linda Fabiani, on East Kilbride workers said “Nae Pasaran!”. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament understands that following a successful premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in March 2018 and excellent reviews from critics and the public, Nae Pasaran! has had its full cinematic release to coincide with the 45th anniversary of its subject, the Chilean military coup of 11 September 1973, which began General Pinochet’s regime of terror; commends the director and filmmaker, Felipe Bustos Sierra, and his production team, on their relentless commitment in bringing to light the story of Rolls-Royce engineers in East Kilbride who, in 1974, showed their support for the people of Chile by refusing to repair jet engines for the Chilean air force; recognises the determination of the film’s main characters, the engineers, Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, John Keenan and Stuart Barrie, and all of the others who took part in the boycott, to stand against fascism in defence of the democratic rights of the Chilean people, and considers the film to be a depiction of a remarkable piece of Scotland’s industrial history, which illustrates an admirable act of solidarity between Scottish workers and the Chilean people.

I say, very gently, to members of the public that we do not permit applause from the gallery. I understand why people want to do it, but please desist. 

As MSPs, we are asked to support many, many motions—it sometimes feels as though we are asked to support hundreds a week—but I was genuinely delighted when I saw Linda Fabiani’s motion, and I am delighted that she has secured support for such an important debate.

East Kilbride is just down the road from me—I live in Blantyre—and it is in the region that I represent, so the remarkable contribution of the Rolls-Royce workers to Scotland’s industrial history is of special significance to me and the constituents who I share with Linda Fabiani.

I have known about the story for some time, but not well enough. Linda Fabiani is absolutely right—people just have to see the film. Regrettably, I have not been able to find the time to do that yet, and I am very jealous of friends who have seen it not just once but a couple of times already. It is on my to-do list.

I add my gratitude to the heroic engineers Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, Stuart Barrie and John Keenan and all the workers who took part in the boycott, and commend the film-maker Felipe Bustos Sierra for educating the world on a remarkable part of our history that shows the very best of our humanity. I give a special welcome to Bob, Stuart and Felipe, who are in the gallery.

Linda Fabiani set the scene for the events in Chile back in the 1970s, just before I was born. She was right when she said that that brutal dictatorship in Chile lasted for far too long. According to Chilean Government accounts, more than 3,000 people died or disappeared, and as many as 28,000 were tortured. To this day, relatives continue to search for lost loved ones. This afternoon’s debate allows us to remember the dead and to show our solidarity with the living, including the people who arrived in Scotland as refugees of that regime of terror and who have made Scotland their home.

As we have heard, soon after the coup, the military jet engines from Chile were in need of vital repairs and were returned to the Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride but, on moral grounds, the workers refused to repair them. The fact that that act of protest started with one worker—Bob Fulton—is truly inspiring. What happened next shows the importance of workers organising and being part of a trade union: 4,000 workers unanimously agreed to follow suit and support Bob, and that unity was crucial to the success of the protest.

The Rolls-Royce workers understood that an injury to one is an injury to all and they have shown us the true meaning of solidarity and internationalism.

As a Lanarkshire woman, I am proud that others in politics took up that fight, notably Dame Judith Hart who was then the Minister of Overseas Development in the Labour Government and an MP in Lanark. She was one of very few women in Westminster at that time and she used her position to fight poverty and injustice from Lanarkshire to Chile. She was a formidable advocate for socialism and her unwavering support of Chile against Pinochet earned her the Chilean order of merit.

The film title “Nae Pasaran!” is, of course, the Scottish interpretation of the Spanish words for “they shall not pass!”, which speaks to the very best of Scottish culture and our character. In that spirit, the workers not only refused to repair the engines but actively obstructed their removal from the factory. We have heard more about that in the debate, including how they left the engines to rust in the yard.

It adds to the mystery that the workers did not understand the impact of what they had done, which we can now fully appreciate because of Felipe Bustos Sierra’s film. It is moving that we are paying tribute today in the Scottish Parliament, and I hope that everyone who was involved knows that we are immensely proud. Not just young people and workers in East Kilbride and Central Scotland but everyone in Scotland has to see this film. 

I know that we are short of time and that I have gone over my time limit, so I will end by thanking Linda Fabiani and everyone else involved for letting this story be told.

I am grateful to Linda Fabiani for securing this important debate and I thank Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, John Keenan and Stuart Barrie, who are in the public gallery, for their very courageous stance and solidarity with the people of Chile against the military coup of Pinochet and the violence that was perpetrated. As has been said, many thousands were called the “missing”—that is what I remember the most. Years later, people are still looking for their loved ones. That is a terrible thing to have happened, but unfortunately such things are still going on in some countries in the world. I thank Bob, Robert, John and Stuart for what they did and I hope that people would similarly have the courage to stand in solidarity with those in other areas of the world just now.

The Chilean coup on 11 September 1973 was a landmark of the cold war. The first democratically elected left-wing president in Latin America, Salvador Allende, was brutally overthrown by the Chilean armed forces who surrounded and attacked the presidential palace. Allende and his staff refused to surrender. We know that Allende died that day and the dictatorship that followed killed hundreds and thousands of people. Many disappeared or were sent into exile—some are still looking for their people.

The Hawker Hunter air raids during the coup were shown by film-makers; the images travelled the world in that way. When the Scottish workers saw those images on television, they recognised the planes that they were building and knew immediately that they were working on the same engines. The Hawker Hunter was one of Britain’s most exported military aircrafts; more than 20 air forces flew them and they were all powered by the same engine—the Rolls-Royce Avon.

In the 1970s, all those engines were repaired in the same factory at Rolls-Royce East Kilbride. Funnily enough, my husband worked there a few years later. It was the only place where maintenance was on-going, so the boycott of those Chilean engines at the factory was a cause célèbre. It was a fantastic thing to do, and the workers kept the boycott going for four years, leaving the engines to rust at the back of the factory until, one night, the engines disappeared. We do not know where they ended up, but I am sure that some people will have an answer.

As Linda Fabiani said, the film-maker Felipe Bustos Sierra is also here today. He is the son of a Chilean exile, who grew up hearing rumours of this tale of international solidarity. One of the questions that he and others asked was: “Was any of this true?”

We know that it was true. From there, the story of “Nae Pasaran!” was documented and the film was created. It is a film about the many Chileans who crossed paths with the engines and what happened to those people. I believe that we in the Scottish Parliament are in negotiations about showing the film in November. I am sorry to put the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs on the spot, but I hope that we can get an update from her on that. 

I am running out of time, but I will repeat the comments of John Keenan, Robert Somerville and Bob Fulton, who were at the medal ceremony in Glasgow. At that time, they said:

“If international solidarity means anything to you, if you believe—like we do—that we are all connected, trying to make a life for ourselves while treating each other like human beings before politics, class, language or borders muddle it up, this is a story for you and it has a painstakingly documented happy ending.”

I salute those gentlemen, and anyone else who stands up to fascists and dictators.

I remind people in the gallery not to applaud speeches—some people have come in since I said that. I understand why people want to do so, but that is the rule in the Parliament.

I thank Linda Fabiani for giving us the opportunity to thank the workers of Rolls-Royce East Kilbride and to celebrate them and the many other examples of Scotland’s working-class internationalism and solidarity.

As has been mentioned, Tuesday marked the 45th anniversary of the American-backed coup against the democratically elected President of Chile Salvador Allende, which brought about the murderous dictatorship of the fascist General Pinochet. Allende had sought to implement socialist policies in Chile, including Government provision of healthcare and education, fair redistribution of land, public works projects and, critically, nationalising industry, particularly the copper mines that had previously been owned by United States interests. That in particular was almost universally popular in Chile; it was popular far beyond the political left. 

Allende even supported a proto-internet project—project Cybersyn—a network of telex machines to facilitate fast and effective decision-making for state-run enterprises to manage a nationalised economy. I do not hesitate to admit that I had to Google what a telex machine is before putting together this speech.

Allende’s Government was a progressive one. Unsurprisingly, the US did not like that. It feared a loss of American investments in Chile and it feared that Chile might become the next Cuba. The US took action to destabilise the country, culminating in a coup that was instigated to a significant extent by the CIA and US military personnel.

When the Chilean military moved against him, Allende refused to surrender or flee. He had the opportunity to move south to lead an insurgency from the south of the country, but his politics were rooted in the belief that progressive change could and should be brought about democratically and peacefully. Instead, he remained in the presidential palace as the military moved in. Those loyal to him held out for hours, for as long as they could, completely surrounded and without any chance of rescue. Eventually, the building was set alight and bombed by the air force jets, the story of which has brought us to the debate today.

In his farewell radio address to the nation, Allende railed against the coup. He stated his belief in a better, democratic future for Chile. All the while, gunfire and explosions could be heard in the background around him. Allende shot himself rather than be captured by the new regime.

Over the next 17 years, the horrendous human rights abuses that took place in Chile continued to escalate. Tens of thousands of people were tortured, Hundreds of thousands were exiled, thousands were executed and many simply disappeared. Terror was institutionalised in Pinochet’s Chile. Infrastructure was created, torture centres were built and Government agencies were dedicated to the task of repression.

When faced with horrendous human rights abuses in a country thousands of miles away, it can be difficult to know what to do and how to make a difference. For the workers of Rolls-Royce in East Kilbride, what they could do was clear. Rolls-Royce manufactured the engines used in jet fighters, not just by the Chilean air force but by 20 air forces across the world, and the East Kilbride site was, at that point, the only one at which those jet engines could be serviced.

By refusing to service the engines, the workers were able to take a stand. They did everything in their power to frustrate and undermine a fascist dictatorship 7,000 miles away. They grounded jets that had been used to bomb an elected Government and terrorise a people and they gave strength to those in Chile who continued to resist.

I am delighted that Stuart Barrie, who was one of the workers who led the action, is here today. He said:

“Years later we heard that folk in Chile were inspired by us. We’ve met a guy who was in prison being tortured and he said he heard about our action on the radio his guard had. He said it gave him the will to live. It was a wee spark of life, it lifted him up.”

It takes courage to take a stand such as the workers in East Kilbride did, and it takes strong unions and collective action to sustain it. What those workers did was a proud moment in a proud history of working-class solidarity in Scotland, often in the face of United Kingdom Governments that have been happier to dine with dictators and condemn those standing against them.

However, the evil that the workers in East Kilbride defied in the 1970s is not only of our past. Brutal regimes still exist and so do their links with Scotland. Missile systems manufactured by Raytheon in Fife for the Saudi air force have been linked to war crimes in Yemen, including the bombing of hospitals, funerals and, just a few weeks ago, the slaughter of 40 children on a school bus. Despite that clear link between a factory in Scotland and terrible human rights abuses abroad, Raytheon is still given public money in this country. More than £200,000 has been given to the world’s largest guided missile manufacturer, and it is far from the only arms trader to receive such funds.

Today, we celebrate the actions of Scottish workers who defied a dictator thousands of miles away. I hope that the Scottish Government will be inspired enough by their story to end the support that is being given this very day to those who supply equally brutal regimes. That would be a powerful demonstration that Scotland’s strong tradition of international solidarity lives on.

I thank Linda Fabiani for bringing this debate to the chamber. We have heard some fantastic speeches.

If we look back at the history and the election of Allende, we can see that that time shook America to its core. We have to remember that it was only a decade or so after the Cuban revolution that we saw a democratically elected left-wing socialist government in the backyard of the United States. That sparked a reaction from powerful vested interests of the political right, because they saw their grip on power being wrenched away, not by a coup but by democracy.

That is what all this was about, because Allende’s coalition set about implementing a programme of land redistribution and nationalisation, reducing unemployment and increasing wages, social reform and, as Ross Greer said, health and education. That really struck a chord with those who had previously held power, because it was the polar opposite of what they wanted. They did not want to lift working people and peasants out of poverty, improve the economy or develop social services. They wanted to retain power and their base, and they actively and quickly organised and conspired, ultimately launching the violent coup on 11 September 1973, with the assassination and the overthrow of the Government. Members have spoken about the footage of the jets bombing the presidential palace and key Government buildings being attacked, and those are the haunting images of that time.

I have not yet seen the whole film—I hope to see it next week at my party’s conference in Liverpool, where there will be a showing—but I am very aware of the story, because it is one of the great campaigns in the history of the Scottish trade union and labour movement. It is about class unity and workers thousands of miles away from South America taking direct action by refusing to service engines that were destined for persecution and oppression. It is an example of the very best values of the labour and trade union movement, with workers identifying an injustice that was an affront to their sense of morality, their sense of right and wrong and their belief in democracy and human rights.

Their refusal to work on the engines had a direct impact. It meant that some of the planes were grounded, undoubtedly saving lives and preventing more misery. It was a practical step. We should remember that the actions of the workers and the shop stewards committee were not taken in self-interest. It was not about improving their pay or their conditions. It was a purely humanitarian act of solidarity. Tony Benn said that democracy is one of the most revolutionary acts and that that is why so many people oppose it. I would add solidarity to that. I think that it is one of the greatest acts of compassion that human beings who do not know each other can show each other.

Following the coup, Chile became a laboratory for neoliberal shock doctrine as the Pinochet regime let the free market rip while persecuting, torturing and killing thousands of people. The lucky ones fled to other countries and around 500 settled here. They were welcomed by trade unions, mining communities, churches, charities and others. That showed compassion and solidarity.

I congratulate the film-makers, shop stewards and workers—some of whom are no longer with us—who stood up using the greatest tool that workers have, which is the withdrawal of their labour. As we witness the rise of Trump, the far right on the march again and extreme nationalism throughout Europe, the left and progressive forces must organise to resist the vile ideology of fascism. Ross Greer was also right to point out what is happening in this country to supply weapons to odious regimes. The title of the film says it all: “Nae Pasaran!”.

In view of the number of speakers who remain to take part in the debate, I am minded to accept a motion under rule 8.14.3 of standing orders to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes.

Motion moved,

That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes.—[Linda Fabiani]

Motion agreed to.

It is a great pleasure to be part of the debate and the commemoration. I thank Linda Fabiani for bringing the debate to Parliament to mark the wonderful act of international solidarity that Scottish workers at Rolls Royce in East Kilbride showed between 1974 and 1978 to the people of Chile in their fight against the fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet.

I watched the short film last night and was impressed that the men’s steadfast conviction about their action had not changed a bit over the years. When they saw film clips of their own Rolls Royce Avon engines flying over Santiago to bomb and kill people and put down a democratically elected Government, they decided to take action when the chance arose, which it certainly did, and they grounded half the Chilean air force as a result. When the engines came to East Kilbride to be serviced and returned to Chile, the men said no. They kept saying no—nae pasaran—and I am sure that they would say the same today if they were asked.

It was moving to witness the silent moment of sadness when the Chilean film-makers revealed to the men that the engines eventually went back to Chile. They were probably sneaked out by the company on the instructions of the Government, even though the men were sure that they could not be used, as they were probably corroded. Little did they calculate that that would not matter a jot to Pinochet. In fact, one of the engines flew again and the plane crashed some years later.

The coup in 1973 was backed by the Americans. Chilean Government figures have put the number of deaths and disappeared at around 3,000. Around 10,000—probably much more than that, in reality—were held as political prisoners and tortured and around 200,000 fled into exile.

My clearest memory of the situation in Chile comes from around 1977, when I was a student at Strathclyde university. As part of its warm-up tour for the 1978 world cup, Scotland was scheduled to play a football match against Chile in the stadium where thousands were held and many tortured and killed. I can still recall a Chilean mature student talking to me at length about what had happened in Chile and why Scotland should not play the game. Huge controversy surrounded it and the Scottish Football Association told everyone that the game would go ahead unless the UK Government instructed otherwise. It did not, and the match went ahead. Scotland won 4-2, if that even mattered. What mattered, whether we thought then or think now that it was right or wrong to play, was that the disgrace of Pinochet and the plight of the Chilean people were centre stage in Scotland.

Members may be aware of the wonderful Chilean singer, teacher and poet, Victor Jara, who is probably the most famous political activist to be tortured and murdered by Pinochet’s regime. I came to know his story in the 1980s through a song by Arlo Guthrie, sung by our own Arthur Johnstone. Victor Jara’s songs were about love, peace and social justice, promoted by Salvador Allende and his Government. For that reason, Victor Jara was tortured and murdered and his body thrown on to the streets of Santiago. Justice caught up finally, just two months ago, when eight of the officers responsible for his murder were imprisoned for 15 years.

Arlo Guthrie’s lovely description of Victor Jara’s hands as being both gentle and strong can apply in equal measure to our Scottish workers who stood by the people of Chile when they needed us. Those workers were rightly honoured by the Chilean Government for their solidarity. It must also apply to my unnamed Chilean friend, who reached out to me in 1977 to share the truth about what was happening in his beloved country.

We salute all of them today. I congratulate Linda Fabiani once again on bringing the topic to the attention of the Parliament.

I congratulate everyone who has been involved in what has been a very powerful debate. In particular, I thank Linda Fabiani for laying out for us all the story of the impact of what the East Kilbride workers did and for displaying her pride in the workers who come from the community that she represents.

The inspirational story of the East Kilbride workers and the film, “Nae Pasaran!”, almost leave us without the right words to match what those actions meant. As someone who was privileged to be at the medal ceremony, I can say that it was made all the more inspirational by the quiet, humorous, understated testimony of the men involved in that great act of courage. I salute them and the film, which is a worthy celebration of the actions that they took. I recognise that those actions took courage and individual leadership, which also brought collective determination. For me, if we have both those things, we can move mountains and change the world.

The film is a celebration of the capacity of people to do the right thing when they are not guaranteed credit for it and nobody is looking to celebrate them—they do it simply because they believe it to be right.

For people of my generation, Chile is unbelievably significant. I was still a school pupil at the time of the coup. I remember having a growing awareness of a very significant international event playing out as the horrors in Chile were relayed on the television. The situation in Chile, like that in South Africa, helped to shape my political thinking—just as it did for many people of my generation. I developed an understanding of what power was and how its abuses and their consequences played out not just on the international stage, but in the lives of individuals and families.

As a young woman, I saw the impact of the events playing out locally, with Chilean people coming into communities and being housed in Glasgow and elsewhere. I remember an elderly friend of my parents from Skye talking warmly about the new Chilean neighbours. He was asking questions about why they were there, as well as reaching out to them with a typical Hebridean kindness to make them feel at home.

I also remember a student from Chile who described what it was like to have no means of identifying who you were and what qualifications you had. That student went to university with my brother. The idea of being stateless and homeless and how frightening that would be had a huge impact on me.

I was aware of the communities welcoming people who were fleeing the troubles in Chile and of individual acts of kindness. Like the East Kilbride workers, people were trying to make a difference to those who were in trouble. I, too, remember the Adam McNaughtan song, which starts with the “blood upon the grass”, but ends up talking about the blood on our hands. That song and that campaign talked about the ordinariness of a football stadium and the fact that although we saw it as somewhere for a sporting event to take place, it had actually been a place where people had been slaughtered and murdered. 

Willie Coffee was right to highlight the song about Victor Jara. I remember learning, as a young woman, that, in order to silence Jara and prevent him building comfort among the people round about him,

“they broke all of his fingers
So his strings no more could sound”.

He could not play his guitar any longer, but he continued to sing.

I also want to highlight that I remember as a young student being involved in a campaign to get Madame Allende elected as the rector of the University of Glasgow. Our Labour club did not succeed, but we played our little part by talking about what it must have been like for students like us who were living in Chile.

The role of the Chile solidarity movement in Scotland was important in bringing people together. I would cite the role of Glasgow Trades Council and the indomitable Jane McKay, who understood the power of the trade union movement in bringing political campaigning together with the practical means to help those who were suffering in the struggle.

In celebrating the men of East Kilbride and the film “Nae Pasaran!”, which speaks to that struggle, we celebrate the very best in humanity. Too often, our debate is debased, but we should draw on those who not only talked the language of solidarity but lived it. It was an inspiration then, and it is an inspiration now. It is a lesson for us all.

First, I congratulate Linda Fabiani on securing the debate. The showing of the film “Nae Pasaran!” would be a responsibility of the Presiding Officer and parliamentarians, but I strongly urge everyone to ensure that that showing happens. It would be important because the answers to some of the questions that came up in a number of members’ reflections could be answered by viewing the documentary film.

I appreciate the debate being extended in order that we could hear all the excellent speeches, because every member has brought something different to this important debate. Linda Fabiani set out the politics of the time and the harshness and brutality of the fascist regime. Sandra White reflected on the importance of the story being one of international solidarity and of standing up to fascist dictatorship.

However, the story is also one of human and individual morality. I took that message from the film when I had the privilege of seeing it at its world premiere in March during the Glasgow film festival.

As we heard in a number of speeches, including that from Willie Coffey, film footage started the story of the film—footage of the Hawker Hunter jets flying and bombing the presidential palace in Santiago sparked the response from the East Kilbride workers, and the story has continued.

I congratulate Felipe Bustos Sierra, because the remarkable thing about the film is that it investigates, and parts that were perhaps not in the original story have been rediscovered. That is a strong statement of the power of films and documentaries in ensuring that we find out things that we did not know—and the workers certainly did not know—at the time.

The film was originally an award-winning 2013 short film. It received funding from Creative Scotland, and I am delighted that the film then became a full documentary. Individual morality and solidarity, as part of the trade union movement, are important themes and Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, John Keenan and Stuart Barrie showed integrity in acting on their beliefs and standing up in solidarity with the Chilean people, which was inspiring. In opposing the Pinochet dictatorship, the men were awarded the highest civilian honour for non-Chilean citizens, which is the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins medal. I commend the director and the production team for their relentless dedication to bringing the story to light.

As we have heard, most recently from Johann Lamont, many Chileans made their homes in Scotland after their exile, and they brought their skills, expertise and culture. They stayed with local families, and the bonds that were built at that time endure today.

In June next year, Parliament will celebrate world refugee day. It is important to recognise people who have had to flee their homes. To this day, people have to flee their homes because of the threat to them and their families due to their beliefs, experiences, religion or other issues. Today, we show solidarity, support and understanding for people who are fleeing persecution. That is part of our story in trying to ensure that we show solidarity and resistance. We should commit to reaching out to the humanity that exists in the world in order to overcome all that is bad about the dictatorships that still exist.

I say to members who have not seen the film that it is important to see it. Some people said that they did not know what happened to the crates. I was struck by the part of the film that used detailed research to cross-reference the reference numbers on the original crates with what was discovered in Chile when the documentary makers went there.

I will describe another striking aspect. Neil Findlay and others talked about how the workers did not know for decades what the response was to their individual acts in support of others. The film captured that when we heard the responses to the story from political prisoners. Monica Lennon referred to Dame Judith Hart. The documentary states only what can be stated but, at the time, concerns were raised and people wondered about whether the removal of the crates had anything to do with the release of political prisoners. We do not know the answer to that, but the film explores and questions the issues.

As for what the story means for what we can and should do, we should always remember what happened, but we should also celebrate individuals. Johann Lamont referred to the delightful humorous and understated response of the East Kilbride workers, which makes the film what it is. We can read and understand information, and we can hear documentaries, but in the film the personalities of the four men come across, so that we start to understand their integrity, morality and sheer dogged determination—perhaps it was the thrawn Scots spirit—to do what they wanted to do because they believed that it was right.

We in the Parliament have many responsibilities, not least in relation to our trade policy and our human rights experience. Defence diversification is the right thing to do. As a country that is a good global citizen, we must try to ensure that human rights are understood universally.

I am proud to have been part of the debate, which has covered important messages. I have also learned more about the football situation than I was previously aware of.

The workers’ stories must be told. I was proud to take my young son to the film’s premiere. He asked me why we do not know about the story, which is part not only of Chilean history but of Scottish history. I encourage everyone to view the film if they can, and to ensure that individually and politically we live our lives with such a sense of integrity and morality. Wherever in the world we see injustice or people’s political and human rights being compromised, and wherever in the world we can seek peace and solidarity, we should always fulfil our responsibilities as much as we can to do good.

“Nae Pasaran!” charts a dark period of Chilean history, but the story should be told. It tells a modern story of solidarity, compassion and the human spirit in Chile and here in Scotland. Our international connections are important, and simple actions can have a lasting impact.

I express my admiration for everyone who was involved in the making of the film. I pay tribute to all those from across Scotland and beyond who stood and stand in solidarity with people around the world, and I pay tribute particularly to those who supported the Chilean people in that period. Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, John Keenan, Stuart Barrie and Felipe Bustos Sierra—we salute you.

I thank all members for their contributions. I am sure that Ms Fabiani knows how to progress the showing of a film in Parliament; I do not need to tell her how to do that.

Tuesday 11 September—two days ago—marked the 45th anniversary of the vicious right-wing coup that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power in Chile. That was the start of a reign of terror that lasted for far, far too long. Before the 1973 coup, Chile was a democracy. In 1970, the country had elected as its President Salvador Allende, the leader of the Popular Unity coalition. President Allende appointed Augusto Pinochet as commander-in-chief of the military in 1973.

Within weeks, the coup was launched, with heavy attacks on the presidential palace by the Chilean Air Force, using Hawker Hunter fighter jets. The elected Government was overthrown, President Allende died, and democracy and civilian rule were ended, with the suspension of Congress and the advent of dictatorship. Socialists, leftists and political critics were persecuted. Thousands of people were killed, and tens of thousands more were tortured or jailed for political reasons.

Some of us who are in the chamber today remember the horror of watching events unfold on our televisions. We remember being aware of the political activists, artists, intellectuals and workers who had fled Chile with their families. For me, the starkest image is that of Santiago stadium, the Chilean national football stadium, being turned into a concentration camp and execution centre. I remember discussing the horror of that with my father, with the disbelief of a teenager that such events could happen in a world that was supposed to be civilised. What was worse, as time went on, was the realisation that, despite the horror, cordial relations with the man who had instigated all that were established with Governments across the world.

It is thought that around 500 Chilean exiles ended up in Scotland. Many Scots campaigned and showed solidarity with their Latin American contemporaries through demonstrations and fundraising, in friendship and in song. One notable song was “Blood Upon The Grass”, by Adam McNaughtan, which was about the Scotland football team going to play in Santiago stadium.

The Chile solidarity campaign had membership across the United Kingdom. I understand that, in one example of solidarity, a group of Chilean workers was sponsored by Cowdenbeath’s mining community.

At the time, East Kilbride was home to the Rolls-Royce factory that repaired and maintained the Avon engines that powered the Hawker Hunter jet, one of the UK’s most exported military aircrafts. That is the subject of “Nae Pasaran!”, the film that tells the story of East Kilbride’s heroes. Two of those heroes are here with us today in the public gallery: Bob Fulton and Stuart Barrie. [Applause.]

In 1974, a few months after Chile’s coup, engine inspector Bob Fulton arrived at work at the factory. The note of his next repair job said that the engines were from the Chilean Air Force. Bob realised that the engines would be from the planes involved in Pinochet’s attack on democracy—and, no doubt, in the on-going abuses of the Chilean people. He was anxious and upset, and he made a decision: he was not working on those engines.

Bob’s colleagues backed him. The workers in the Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride boycotted the Chilean Air Force engines. They kept the boycott going for four years, and the engines were left to rust. However, one night, the engines mysteriously disappeared. The workers were told that their actions had been meaningless.

Years and decades passed. Bob Fulton and others moved on and retired. Some of the workers are no longer with us. Meanwhile, the son of a Chilean exile, film maker Felipe Bustos Sierra—he is also in the gallery, I am glad to say—was growing up hearing rumours about the Rolls-Royce workers’ act of solidarity. Felipe was fascinated by the story and determined to find out whether it was myth or reality. The start was turning up to speak to Bob Fulton some 40 years after the Rolls-Royce workers’ action. That was the beginning of the making of the film “Nae Pasaran!”. 

The first project was a short documentary—an excellent short film—and, following that, successful crowd funding enabled the full-length feature to be made. That full-length film premiered at the Glasgow film festival earlier this year to rave reviews from critics and the public, and indeed our Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs. I have been privileged to see the film a few times, and it is truly marvellous—in its story, its investigation and its interviews with key players, in Felipe Bustos Sierra’s research in unearthing this fascinating story, and in the quality of its production.

The stars of the film are four men, four ordinary chaps, who worked at Rolls-Royce in EK in 1974 and who, with others, potentially put their jobs on the line to stand up for their principles—Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, John Keenan and Stuart Barrie. That could not have been easy, not just in the workplace, but in everyday life. Bob Fulton admits in the film that he was feart to go home to his wife Lottie and tell her what he had done. 

So what had they done? It is simple: Bob, Robert, John, Stuart and their fellow workers did what they knew to be right. What they did not know was the effect that it had, or that Felipe Bustos Sierra would turn up decades down the line to let them know about that effect. What they did not know was that, during the making of a film about the Rolls-Royce engines, they would meet Chileans who were persecuted during the Pinochet regime—fellow workers, incarcerated, tortured and afraid of execution—who told them that they took some comfort from the fact that they knew that, way over in a place called East Kilbride in Scotland, there was a bunch of workers who refused to repair Pinochet’s jet engines.

There is so much more that I could say about “Nae Pasaran!”—the excellent representation of the situation at the time, the filmed interviews and the politics not just of Chile but of the United Kingdom and other western Governments—but time limits me. People really have to see the film. 

I end by recognising—as I do in the motion that I lodged—the achievement of Felipe Bustos Sierra in making the film, and the determination of all those workers in the Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride in the 1970s who took part in the boycott of Pinochet’s jet engines. They took a stand against fascism in defence of the democratic rights of the Chilean people. It is a film that depicts a remarkable piece of Scotland’s industrial history and illustrates an admirable act of solidarity between Scottish workers and the Chilean people. It is a film that, once seen, will not be forgotten.

East Kilbride is extremely proud of its heroes who said “Nae Pasaran!” [Applause.] 

I thank Linda Fabiani for bringing the motion to the chamber, because it celebrates a key moment in the history of my home town, East Kilbride. “Nae Pasaran!” means “They will not pass!”—if my pronunciation is a bit dodgy, my Spanish-speaking daughter will be sure to let me know. 

In September 1973, 45 years ago, General Pinochet launched a military coup against the Government of Chile. Air strikes, using British-built Hawker Hunter planes, targeted the presidential palace and the President was killed. Seven thousand miles away in Lanarkshire, Rolls-Royce engineer Bob Fulton—I am delighted to see him in the gallery today—saw a Hawker Hunter engine in front of him with the word “Chile” written on it. He had seen footage of the air strikes and was so incensed that he refused to service four engines. 

Risking their jobs, Bob and his colleagues kept those four engines in crates in the yard for four years. The Rolls-Royce engineers were adamant that those engines were staying put and would not re-enter service. They believe that, without the necessary protection, the engines would have corroded over the years had they sat in a crate in the factory yard. Mysteriously, as Linda Fabiani said, the engines were removed one night in 1978. Exactly what happened to them is not clear. There were reports that they made it back to Chile.

As Linda Fabiani said, a film of the story has been made by the Chilean film-maker Felipe Bustos Sierra—I apologise to him if I have got the pronunciation of that wrong, too. Felipe grew up in Belgium, and I will quote extensively from what he said about that time:

“In Belgium, we would go to solidarity events where they’d roll off a list of actions taken throughout the world in protest against the torture and censorship by the Pinochet regime. The Scottish boycott was always mentioned, even well after the engines had disappeared. It gave us all a lot of hope because it dealt directly with the most iconic image of the Chilean coup—the planes flying low over Santiago and firing rockets into the city centre.

Over time, the story became a bit of a myth, with lots of embellishments and exaggerations. Initially, I was hoping to find the workers involved and set the record straight, but never imagined I’d find so much about how much of an impact they’d had. Our discoveries surprised not just the workers, but the Chilean Air Force itself. The story had been buried so deep back then, they allowed us some access, convinced we wouldn’t find anything tangible. And then we did.

In 2015, as a result of our research, three of the Scottish workers received the highest honour given to foreigners by the Government of Chile for their efforts to preserve human rights. They are now Commanders of the Republic of Chile.”

I have not seen the film, but I would like to. Rolls-Royce is part of East Kilbride’s history. Sadly, the firm has left the town and has left no legacy, save for a housing development called Merlin Gardens. What a pity that is. “Nae Pasaran!” may be all that is left of that history. We should celebrate it.