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The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Poet hits out at 'infantile' Baillie Gifford campaigners
Paterson, one of Scotland's most successful poets in modern times, suggested the publishing industry should have done more to 'rally round' festivals which faced pressure to drop the Edinburgh-based investment firm. Read more: The multi award-winning writer and musician claimed 'a lack of national pride' was to blame for the targeting of book festivals over their backing by Baillie Gifford. Writing in a new collection of essays on Scottish culture, Paterson – a former winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry – suggested that the some of the 'book worker ringleaders' of the campaign had only recently moved to Scotland. Poet Don Paterson has co-edited a new collection of essays on Scotland's cultural landscape. Picture: Gordon Terris He added that their 'first major cultural contribution was to trash beautiful things that others had spent decades building.' The Edinburgh International Book Festival, which returns this weekend, was the first of a number of UK literary festivals to be targeted over its Baillie Gifford sponsorship in the wake of report of the company's investments in firms involved in the fossil fuels industry. Poet Don Paterson has condemned the authors involved in the Fossil Free Books campaign. Picture: Gordon Terris Climate activist Greta Thunberg pulled out of a sold-out appearance at the 2023 festival, protesters staged a walk-out from an event and 50 writers threatened to boycott the EIBF in future if it did not sever its links with Baillie Gifford. The Fossil Free Books campaign went on to target book festivals across Britain last May by demanding that they sever all links with Baillie Gifford due to its involvement in the coal, oil and gas sectors. Hundreds of writers backed an open letter warning festivals to 'expect escalation, including the expansion of boycotts, increased author withdrawal of labour, and increased disruption.' The festivals in Edinburgh, the Borders and Wigtown, Scotland's official book town, all announced the end of their partnerships within weeks. Paterson was among a group of leading Scottish authors who later signed an open letter describing the targeting of book festivals over their involvement with Baillie Gifford as 'deeply retrograde' and 'ill thought-out.' Others included Alexander McCall Smith, Andrew O'Hagan, Chris Brookmyre, Denise Mina, Doug Johnstone, David Greig and Liz Lochhead. Many of the writers who backed the Fossil Free Books campaign have been invited to take part in this year's Edinburgh book festival, including Ali Smith, Hannah Lavery, Jess Brough, Raymond Antrobus, Chitra Ramaswamy, Andrés N Ordorica, Harry Josephine Giles and Katie Goh. The new collection of essays - which was jointly edited by Paterson and former Makar Kathleen Jamie - was instigated by the two poets in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the Scottish independence referendum. The book also features contributions by the current Makar, Peter Mackay, and the writer Neal Ascherson, Jenny Lindsay, Stuart Kelly and James Robertson. In his essay, Paterson claimed national pride had been 'hollowed out' in Scotland over the decade. He told how many of his friends had commented on how many institutions, university programmes and arts events had started to 'shed their distinctive Scottish programmes like a bad smell.' Paterson said Scotland was rapidly becoming a 'little save haven for an increasingly discredited politics of identity.' He wrote: 'What else but a lack of national pride could explain, for example, our failure to arrest the infantile antics of Fossil Free Books, and their craven, entirely confected attack on three layers of soft underbelly – Scotland, book festivals, and one of the most ecologically responsible investors and major patrons of the arts, Baillie Gifford. 'Prominent among their 'book worker' ringleaders were some overconfident, expensively educated English students, and several folk 'currently living in Scotland,' whose first major cultural intervention was to trash beautiful things that others had spent decades building. 'At no point did the young authors involved bother to 'follow the money' with regard to who sells their own books, or where the pension funds of their own publishers are invested. 'Why did we not rally round our besieged festivals, and say 'enough is enough'? 'I'm afraid one has to conclude that some recent arrivals clearly see their role as culturally corrective, much like the Italian dance-masters shipped to Edinburgh in the early 19th century to fix our rustic fiddle-playing.' The new essay collection, published by Irish Pages, was partly funded by Creative Scotland. However Paterson took aim at Creative Scotland in his essay, writing that the Scottish Government arts agency, and smaller arts and literature organisations it funds, had a 'projected obsession with identity politics.' He wrote: 'Identitarianism encourages people to simplify themselves, which is one reason it will always be a favoured tool of the state. 'It generates tribal division, and – consciously or not – works as a strategy of divide-and-rule which leaves the real power in the hands of the bureaucratic overseers. 'These divisions soon began to undermine the 'civic and joyous' come-all-ye universalism the independence movement had recently aspired to. 'The sector employs many talented and conscientious individuals, and funds much good art. 'But the misplaced sense of self-importance that tends to dog the world of arts administration had led it to forget that its job was the nurturing and promotion of Scottish excellence and talent, not the defence of the culture's ideological purity. 'Then again, these institutions are always downstream of legislative culture. The same disconnect had happened via Blairite, corporate-speak neo-managerialism 20 years before.'
The Herald Scotland
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
How Edinburgh Book Festival found itself in the culture wars
At about the time Noel and Liam were getting ready to kiss and make up last year the EIBF found itself embroiled in controversy over sponsorship, a row which more than a year on has expanded to include funding and platforming. But how did we get here? And, perhaps more importantly, where does the festival go in the future? Read More: The controversy goes back to a longstanding sponsorship arrangement between the festival and Baillie Gifford, an investment management firm based in Scotland's capital. The company came under scrutiny due to its ties to the fossil fuel industry, as well as to companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories. In 2023, climate activist Greta Thunberg cancelled a scheduled appearance at the book festival as she accused Baillie Gifford of 'greenwashing' in their sponsorship of the festival, which she said allowed them and other companies "the social licence to continue operating". She concluded: "I cannot and do not want to be associated with events that accept this kind of sponsorship." Last year the group Fossil Free Books called for literary festivals to end their relationships with the company unless it divested from such activities, after The Ferret found it had up to £5bn invested in companies which make money from the oil, coal or gas sectors at the end of 2022. Fossil Free Books also accused the firm of having "nearly £10bn invested in companies with direct or indirect links to Israel's defence, tech and cybersecurity industries, including Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet". A 2023 report named Baillie Gifford as one of the top investors in companies involved with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Baillie Gifford says both of these claims are misleading. Baillie Gifford and the festival agreed to end their sponsorship The company says it is a "small investor" in three companies "that have been identified as having activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories", and that only 2% of its funds are invested in companies related to fossil fuels. Fossil Free Books has said the 2% figure equates to between £2.5bn and £5bn, while Arts Workers for Palestine Scotland said Ballie Gifford holds investments in which advertises accommodation in the occupied West Bank; Cemex, which previously operated factories in the occupied territory through a subsidiary and has been accused of supplying materials for barricades and border walls; and Cisco Systems which provides services for the [[Israel]]i military. In May last year, the Edinburgh International Book Festival announced it would be ending its partnership with Baillie Gifford but made clear they had only done so due to "intolerable" pressure and the risk of the festival being disrupted. Allan Little, chair, said: 'Our team cannot be expected to deliver a safe and sustainable festival this August under the constant threat of disruption from activists. This was a pragmatic response to that reality. 'Funding for the arts is now in a perilous position and we should all be clear that without the support of our partners and donors, the future of festivals like ours – and all of the benefits these events bring to authors and readers alike – is in jeopardy." The activists had therefore succeeded in their goal but at the potential cost, according to the EIBF, of the festival itself. In June though, The Herald revealed that [[Edinburgh]]-based author Sir Ian Rankin had agreed to become a major financial backer of the event alongside fellow author Jenny Colgan, additional funding from the Scottish Government, and money from the People's Postcode Lottery. So, controversial sponsor gone but the book festival remains – everybody's happy, right? Well, not quite. The one-off funding from the Scottish Government, amounting to £300,000 to help the festival pay for its long-running schools programme for the next three years, proved controversial. The announcement of the funding came just weeks after Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon's former chief of staff, was appointed as director of the festival. Read More: There is a key distinction here in that while the announcement was made after the appointment, the decision on funding was made long beforehand, ministers taking the decision on March 28 and Ms Lloyd not being appointed until May. Nonetheless Lothian Conservative MSP Sue Webber told the Daily Record: "SNP ministers should come clean on how this funding was awarded and if there was any lobbying from former colleagues who were once at the heart of the nationalist government.' While there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing, the injection of further public money brought further controversy to the festival. After all, many asked, why should the taxpayer foot the bill for a sponsorship lost because of targeting by activists? The counter-argument, of course, would be to ask why a cultural institution liked the Edinburgh International Book Festival needs a controversial corporate sponsor in the first place. There was criticism, too, from the anti-woke brigade who felt that the festival was insufficiently open to debate on various culture war issues. One given example was a lack of invite for Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn, who edited the gender critical tome The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht, released in May 2024. The narrative was that a bestseller about and by Scots was not being given a platform, which could only be for ideological reasons. The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht could accurately be described as such given it debuted at number three on the Sunday Times Bestsellers List, though it dropped off of there pretty quickly and by the imperfect science of Amazon rankings is probably now selling 250-300 copies per month in its various formats a little over a year after its release, a respectable if not earth-shattering number. It might be tempting to suggest that both the climate campaigners and the gender critics are a small but passionate bunch capable of creating noise beyond their numbers, but then they'd both get very angry, which is probably why no-one has suggested that. The closest anyone has come is Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP Chris Murray who told The Herald: "It's getting pelters because people think it's either too woke or not woke enough, or that it's taking money from a big business or the public sector. 'And actually, I think we need to take a step back and remember what the book festival is for; the book festival is supposed to be a festival of, fundamentally, ideas.' Thankfully organisers can expect things to calm down a bit this year, with the headline event of the festival the launch of [[Nicola Sturgeon]]'s memoirs, dealing with Brexit, Covid, Boris Johnson, Alex Salmond and the independence campaign. No-one and nothing likely to get people worked up in there, surely? When it comes to the matter of sponsorship and invites there is, clearly, a line to be drawn somewhere. The author Val McDermid accused those protesting Baillie Gifford on the grounds of climate and Israel of 'virtue signalling', saying: "No-one is saying that Baillie Gifford is white than white. But there is no such thing as a clean sponsor." That may well be true, but where does one draw the line? It's fair to say most festivals would accept sponsorship from Coca-Cola, which operates in the occupied West Bank, but probably wouldn't from Elbit Systems which produces weapons for the Israeli military. On the same subject, Viktor Orbán's government banned the group Kneecap from entering Hungary for the Sziget Festival due to the Irish rap trio's comments on Palestine but Chappell Roan will headline despite saying U.S support for Israel was 'genocidal'. If the Hungarian Prime Minister writes a bestseller should he be invited to the EIBF next year as Sturgeon, Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband have been? Benjamin Netanyahu is a published author, should he be invited? Yanyha Sinwar, the deceased Hamas leader, wrote a novel in 2004 – what about him? To move it away from the Middle East, most would agree there should be a platform for diverse opinions but also that a festival which is partially publicly funded shouldn't provide a platform for, say, holocaust deniers. In all matters of contention a line has to be drawn somewhere, and those on the wrong side of it will be unhappy. The challenge for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and others like it, would appear to be how to keep as many as possible on the right side.
Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Edinburgh festivals face financial turmoil as sponsors withdraw
Edinburgh's festivals are facing financial turmoil as attracting corporate sponsorship has become a 'minefield', Tony Lankester, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, has said. Baillie Gifford, the asset management company, stood down as the headline sponsor of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) last year after 20 years of partnership, after pressure from climate campaigners. Fossil Free Books, an activist group, organised boycotts of the book festival and other literary festivals across the UK sponsored by the Edinburgh firm, claiming it was making money from investments in fossil fuel companies. The protests manifested in various forms, including open letters signed by hundreds of authors, threats of boycotts and speaker withdrawals, including the climate activist Greta Thunberg who cancelled her event at the EIBF in 2023.
Middle East Eye
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Middle East Eye
Hundreds of cultural figures urge UK not to ban Palestine Action
A group of over 400 cultural figures from across the political spectrum has called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to halt the proscription of Palestine Action on free speech grounds. The novelist Alan Hollinghurst, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge and musician Brian Eno are among those who have signed a joint statement organised by Fossil Free Books. 'Whether we as individuals support Palestine Action is irrelevant: what is at stake here is the very principle of freedom of expression,' the statement reads. Pankaj Mishra, whose recent book The World After Gaza responds to the impact of Israel's war on Gaza, has signed the statement, as have the journalist George Monbiot, economist Yanis Varoufakis, academic Kojo Karam, comedian Frankie Boyle and the writers Aja Barber, Max Porter and Afua Hirsch. In a separate letter organised by Artists for Palestine UK, another group of high profile British cultural figures, including the actor Tilda Swinton and the musician Paul Weller, said: "The real threat to the life of the nation comes not from Palestine Action but from Home Secretary Yvonne Cooper's efforts to ban it." Read more: Starmer and Cooper urged by over 400 cultural figures not to ban Palestine Action
Middle East Eye
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK: Starmer and Cooper urged by over 400 cultural figures not to ban Palestine Action
A group of over 400 cultural figures from across the political spectrum has called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to halt the proscription of Palestine Action on free speech grounds. The novelist Alan Hollinghurst, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge and musician Brian Eno are among those who have signed a joint statement organised by Fossil Free Books. 'Whether we as individuals support Palestine Action is irrelevant: what is at stake here is the very principle of freedom of expression,' the statement reads. Pankaj Mishra, whose recent book The World After Gaza responds to the impact of Israel's war on Gaza, has signed the statement, as have the journalist George Monbiot, economist Yanis Varoufakis, academic Kojo Karam, comedian Frankie Boyle and the writers Aja Barber, Max Porter and Afua Hirsch. In a separate letter organised by Artists for Palestine UK, another group of high profile British cultural figures, including the actor Tilda Swinton and the musician Paul Weller, said: "The real threat to the life of the nation comes not from Palestine Action but from Home Secretary Yvonne Cooper's efforts to ban it." 'Civil disobedience is not 'terrorism', as history shows us, from the suffragettes to Martin Luther King Jr. It is the right of all citizens in a democracy," the Fossil Free Books statement says. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "In 2004, Keir Starmer made this very argument when he represented an activist who sabotaged a military aircraft, making the case that his actions were lawful because they aimed to prevent an 'illegal war'. 'Legal and human rights groups, such as Amnesty, Greenpeace and Liberty, have been clear that the proscription of Palestine Action threatens the right to protest in the UK.' As a lawyer, Starmer represented Josh Richards, one of five British peace activists who in 2003 sought to sabotage operations at RAF Fairford, a military air base that was housing B-52 bombers due to fly to Iraq. Banning Palestine Action Founded in 2020, Palestine Action is a direct action group the UK government is set to ban after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton, the largest airbase in Britain, on 20 June and spray-painted two planes while on electric scooters. The activists then evaded security and escaped the base, which they said they targeted because flights leave from there for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, 'a base used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East'. 'As a precedent for what constitutes free speech and appropriate civil disobedience, this is appalling' - Nikesh Shukla, British screenwriter On Friday police announced they had arrested two people connected to the incident, and have since made four more arrests related to the RAF base break-in. Speaking in parliament on 23 June, Yvette Cooper said: 'I have decided to proscribe Palestine Action under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. She said a draft proscription order will be presented in Parliament on 30 June. "If passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or to invite support for, Palestine Action.' After the draft order is presented in parliament on Monday, it will be put to a vote on Wednesday and could come into effect as soon as Friday this week. On Monday, Palestine Action said that Cooper "will ask MPs to decide in one vote to ban Palestine Action and neo-Nazi groups 'Maniac Murder Cult' and 'Russian Imperialist Movement'. "She's done this deliberately to try and ensure the vote is successful." New report lays out full extent of UK-Israel military partnership in Gaza Read More » If Palestine Action is proscribed, it will place it alongside the likes of Islamic State and the neo-Nazi group National Action. It will be the first time a direct action group has been classified in this way. George Monbiot, a Guardian columnist and author, said that the planned proscription of Palestine Action was 'our 'I'm Spartacus' moment.' Scottish comedian Fern Brady said: 'Civil disobedience, protest and the expression of political solidarity is not terrorism. "To say that it is would be an indictment of the UK democracy and every self-respecting comedian should take a stand.' Nikesh Shukla, the British novelist and screenwriter, said: 'As a precedent for what constitutes free speech and appropriate civil disobedience, this is appalling. "We call on all writers, no matter your political views, to join us in defending freedom of speech.'
