Was John Swinney right to stop public money being spent on arms for Israel?

Cynically you could say he also believes there are votes in doing so when it comes to taking as robust a stand on what is happening in Gaza that can be taken by a devolved government with no real international locus.

And there may well be support at the ballot box on this issue come next year's elections, but given the time he has taken to get to the point where he has announced that public funding has been paused to defence firms in Scotland with links to Israel, it's hard to put his decision solely in the box of retail politics.

Instead, agree with it or not, it speaks more of someone who has slowly come to the conclusion that action is required as well as warm words of support for Palestine.

So this latest announcement on public funding is no kneejerk reaction to placate those agitating for action within his party - and outwith it too, like his political allies the Scottish Greens.

He has clearly given a lot of thought to their arguments, but the fact that ahead of this statement he first met with Jewish community representatives to speak with them shows that he is all too aware of how this move could be read by those with personal connections to Israel, including the family of Bernard Cowan who died in the Hamas attack.

He stressed that "many Jewish organisations and individuals —have condemned the assault on Gaza. Their courage reminds us that to speak out against mass violence is not antisemitic. It is deeply human."

And he admitted they might well be "disappointed" by his decision.

But he has moved from words to action, to pause the investment of public monies into defence firms in Scotland which have military links to Israel.

They too will likely be disappointed. Around £5million of taxpayers money is given in grants and loans to companies like Leonardo and Raytheon.

But aside from trying to add to the internal pressure on Keir Starmer to publicly condemn Israel's actions as a genocide (interestingly Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has no such qualms about doing so), the financial lever is about the biggest he could pull.

Of course Israel denies that genocide is what is taking place in Gaza - the International Court of Justice is still weighing it up.

For Swinney it is now clear cut. Will it move the UK government? Unlikely. Will it have an impact on the Scottish electorate? It will undoubtedly be divisive. But then he is used to be being in that place.

The one irony perhaps is that he has also decided that while companies with links to Israeli military are not to be funded, he can now countenance munitions being produced - and the companies making them given public cash - as long as they are for use in Ukraine and for the UK. Another moral choice made - or hypocrisy? The public will decide.

And his announcement today certainly puts down a marker at a time when Keir Starmer has been trumpeting investment in Scotland's defence firms. Will it be Labour's investment and jobs that turn voters heads next year - or will it be the morality of war, or at least this one war?

May is still some time away.