a day ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
John Swinney criticises Fringe venue over Kate Forbes row
Management emailed all of the venue's Fringe companies to 'apologise unreservedly' for the 'understandable upset' caused by the Deputy First Minister being in the building.
A 'designated relax space' was made available for artists, and Summerhall said it would be 'writing robust, proactive inclusion and well-being policies that prevent this from happening again.'
Speaking to journalists about the row after an event hosted by think-tank Enlighten and Charlotte Street Partners, Mr Swinney said: 'I think there is no reason why Kate Forbes shouldn't be able to speak at any venue in Scotland.'
Further probed on the actions of Summerhall, Mr Swinney, who also appeared on Unspun Live at the Fringe, added: "I don't think that's appropriate.'
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Since the fallout, Summerhall's chief executive Sam Gough has said: "No one is banned from appearing... We have not banned anyone.'
Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry has also criticised Summerhall, the venue that hosted The Herald's Unspun Live Fringe show featuring Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes.
Ms Cherry, who attended the event, described the situation as 'shocking' and said it was symptomatic of a wider problem at the festival: 'It is also shocking that a venue in this city has effectively said that the deputy first minister of the country is not welcome there…and that staff are so coddled that they need to have a safe room provided for them when Kate did come to speak.'
Speaking at Matt Forde's Political Party show, Ms Cherry also singled out recent controversies, including the National Library of Scotland's decision to remove a collection of essays by gender-critical women from an exhibition.
Asked by Forde whether free speech is under threat in Scotland, Ms Cherry said: 'I think there are…threats to freedom of speech in Scotland and, regrettably, they have come not wholly from my political party. The Greens are certainly enthusiastically on board, the Lib Dems as well, and some people in the Labour party.'
She placed part of the blame on former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, adding that the current First Minister 'does not have the courage to speak against it.'
Ms Cherry criticised Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar as 'missing in action' on issues of free speech, while praising Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay as 'pretty good' on the topic. She described Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton as 'absolutely appalling' and said the Greens were 'unspeakable.'
'There is a real problem in our politics in Scotland that has seeped into our public life,' she said.
Ms Cherry condemned the National Library of Scotland for censoring a book written by feminists, lesbians, and sex abuse survivors who opposed what she called Sturgeon's 'identity politics.' She accused the librarian and board chairman of bowing to pressure from a small staff group representing an LGBT network, saying: 'I think that's shocking.'
Discussing the broader threat to free speech, Ms Cherry concluded: 'There is a real problem here that we are seeing at the festival.'
