Latest news with #EdinburghBookFestival
The Herald Scotland
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish Government strove to be Israel's ‘critical friend'
Opposition politicians have accused the Scottish Government of hypocrisy, saying its private efforts to engage with Israeli officials contradict its public stance on Gaza. Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba said the Swinney administration had "actively sought a meeting with a representative of a state whose prime minister is now wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity". The planned meeting did not go ahead due to what the Israeli Embassy described as "sudden security threats", but a follow-up visit by Israel's deputy ambassador, Daniela Grudsky, was arranged for Thursday August 8. Ms Grudsky met with Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs Angus Robertson in Edinburgh, sparking widespread internal criticism and a furious backlash from SNP MSPs and activists. READ MORE The documents reveal that ministers and senior advisers were closely involved in managing the meeting, with discussions focused on communications strategy and anticipating FOI requests. One official remarked: "Transparency is obviously a good thing, but it takes up such a lot of our time." While the Scottish Government said the August 8 meeting allowed it to express concern about civilian deaths in Gaza, other topics including culture and renewable energy were also discussed. In the redacted minutes released to The Ferret, much of the section on "Israel/Scotland relations" is blacked out. However, the minutes state: "The Scottish Government's position remained that the Palestinian people had the right to self-determination and that a secure Israel should be able to live in peace and security. There was value in dialogue between Scotland and Israel as critical friends." The diplomatic row first came to light when the Israeli embassy tweeted a photo of Ms Grudsky and Mr Robertson on Monday August 12, shortly after the meeting. The backlash grew after it emerged that the Scottish Government had not initially disclosed the visit. Mr Swinney later replaced Mr Robertson at a scheduled Edinburgh Book Festival event with former Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford. In internal discussions days later, Mr Swinney and Mr Robertson agreed to clarify the Government's position, acknowledging the controversy and agreeing that "normal" relations with Israel were not currently possible. Amnesty International said the documents raised questions about whether Mr Robertson strongly challenged Israel over its conduct in Gaza. "It is squarely in the public interest to have absolute clarity," said Amnesty's Liz Thomson. "Such guidance is clearly needed to inform all external affairs activity." In response to the story, Mr Robertson said: "Close to 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza — many more are now being left to starve at the hands of the Israeli government. Civilians who queue to access what little humanitarian aid is permitted to enter Gaza are frequently shot at and killed by Israeli Defence Forces. "The rhetoric of Israeli politicians has become increasingly extreme in recent months. Under such abhorrent circumstances, the Scottish Government is unequivocal that it would not be appropriate to meet with the Israeli government. "This will remain our position until real progress has been made towards peace and Israel co-operates fully with its international obligations on the investigation of genocide and war crimes."
Scotsman
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Major funding boost: £300,000 secured to inspire young minds through book festival's school programme
The Edinburgh International Book Festival will deliver more than 60 events this year, both in-person and online, dedicated to young readers, thanks to a significant funding boost from the Scottish Government. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The support will ensure the continuation of its acclaimed children's programme for at least the next three years. The Edinburgh International Book Festival is one of the world's leading literary celebrations, taking place every August in the vibrant heart of Scotland's capital. Established in 1983 and held annually since 1997, the festival draws in hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Its packed programme features around 700 events, including author readings, panel discussions, creative workshops, and live performances, catering to audiences of all ages—from adults and young adults to children and school groups. Exterior - Edinburgh Book Festival In addition to sustaining the programme, the £300,000 investment will help cover travel costs for attending schools and provide free tickets for children and families who might otherwise be unable to participate. Founder of Book Supplier, Darren Hargreaves said: Book festivals are more than just events; they're vital spaces where imagination, learning, and community come together. Whether you're five or 95, there's something uniquely powerful about gathering around stories. Festivals like Edinburgh's inspire readers of all ages and help keep the love of books alive across generations.' Festival director Jenny Niven described the children's offering as 'a cornerstone of what we do,' underlining the festival's commitment to inspiring young minds. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The festival is perfectly positioned to help children engage with the fantastic range and breadth of stories around them, to support teachers to use books imaginatively and creatively in learning, and to supply older kids with the tools to think critically, and learn to evaluate the deluge of info around them. 'This aspect of what we do is vital, and we're delighted to have specific public funding support to develop this work further in the coming years. 'We're delighted that the Scottish Government's increased support for festivals has delivered public funding to develop this work further in the coming years, and we look forward to widening our reach across Scotland and exploring further the digital potential of what we do.' Business minister Richard Lochhead said: 'The Edinburgh International Book Festival is one of the country's most significant cultural institutions. He said, "Its school programme has been crucial in fostering literacy and cultural engagement among young people, with thousands of pupils benefiting annually from free events and resources"
The Herald Scotland
21-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Are you ‘upset'? The dangers of flags in Scottish schools
Ms McDonald also said in the letter that she'd spoken to her pupils and explained the symbolism and association of flags and symbols to different groups of people, and how using the pictures was contrary to the school values of respect and kindness. 'I hope this helps everyone understand where mistakes have been made,' she said, 'and we can move on enjoying the rest of the end-of-term celebrations.' The language, the tone, the phrasing – 'inclusion', 'acceptance', 'offensive', 'upset', 'I hope this helps' – is a good example of the way some people in the public sector have learned to talk, indeed feel they must talk: plaintive, patronising, passive aggressive. I also dread to think what Ms McDonald said to the pupils when she 'explained the symbolism and association of flags'; if her letter's anything to go by, she's the last person who should be explaining it. But as I say, the headteacher has now said sorry through her council, East Renfrewshire. A council statement said she'd never meant to suggest the union flag was sectarian and 'apologised for any offence and upset that has been caused' (more upset and offence you'll notice). The council issued its statement after the local MSP, Tory Jackson Carlaw, said he was angry about the head's letter and that equating the Union flag with sectarianism was deeply offensive (I think we may need to ban the o-word). We also need to put all the apparent offence and upset in perspective. It would seem that someone saw the pictures of the event, noticed the Union flags, and contacted the school to say they were upset. The headteacher then reacted in the way she did, writing her letter, which upset other people, meaning the headteacher then had to apologise to them as well and suddenly we're in a spiral of offence and apology. The problem is that, in a hyper-sensitive culture, we assume someone being 'upset' requires some kind of reaction: a there-there, a soothing letter or placating policy announcement. Consult your granny: it does not. Read more These are the latest plans at the Glasgow School of Art. Really? No more Edinburgh Book Festival for me – where did it all go wrong? A Scottish legend says cancel culture is over. Yeah right The fact that someone was upset by the pictures of the event at Arthurlie Primary is also an indication of how flags work. Stick a flag up a pole – any flag, any pole – and you'll immediately please some people and upset others. The Union flag makes a particular type of Scottish nationalist puce with fury – God forbid any Scottish supermarket that puts it on British sausages – and increasingly the same applies to the saltire and a particular type of Unionist. The situation also got a lot worse after 2014, but we are where we are. What it means a decade on, in 2025, is that putting up a Union flag, or a saltire for that matter, in a school, or anywhere, is not a neutral act. Maybe there was a time, before the Scottish referendum, when flags went up without much comment; I also used to think, with some satisfaction, that a lot of Scots find naked patriotism and flags a wee bit embarrassing. But the referendum changed things, flags led to more flags (flagflation) and now there's anger because the flag you see isn't the 'right' one. Hence someone looking at a picture of an event at Arthurlie Primary and getting upset. There-there. The position the school takes now is that it was not their intention to imply the Union flag is sectarian but beyond that, it's unclear what their policy is. The council statement says the school should be 'focused on a diverse British society' and 'foster an ethos of respect for diverse perspectives and national identity'. So does that mean it's OK to put up Union flags to reflect one of the diverse national identities? Or does it mean it's not OK to put up Union flags because it only reflects one of the diverse national identities? They may have withdrawn the 'sectarian' accusation but where they actually stand on flags is uncertain. Jackson Carlaw (Image: PA) Perhaps if Ms McDonald had chosen her words more carefully, we wouldn't be in this position. The use of 'sectarian' was certainly ill-advised given its connection to the Troubles and traditional religious tensions which still bubble in parts of Scotland. She also failed to take into account that many Scots, including some of the parents of kids at her school, will feel positively about the Union flag and so ended up committing that most heinous of modern crimes: offending someone, while trying to avoid offending someone. She also appeared to be handing a kind of veto to people who get upset by the Union flag but get over-excited by saltires. You know the type. And why is it always me who ends up sitting next to them at parties? Anyway, expressed in a different way that didn't appear to single out the Union flag, perhaps the headteacher could have explained that there are dangers in all flags in schools. There will be some who argue that the Union flag is different and that it's the national flag of the UK and therefore represents everyone, but I'm afraid – given everything we've been through in the last ten years – that would be naïve at best or evasive at worst. Best, perhaps, for schools to just try to be neutral and, crucially, consistent: no Union flags, no saltires, no flags at all, not mine, not yours. The risk you run otherwise is that you start to introduce the kind of stuff that comes with flags. You may remember a few years ago Michael Gove suggesting 'British values' should be taught in English classrooms, no doubt draped with union flags. Some Scottish nationalists also talk about 'Scottish values' and maybe one day they'd like to teach them in schools plastered with saltires. But in this country, we're rather sceptical about all of that or used to be – it's something the Americans do, not us. And maybe that's something we should try to keep hold of. And maybe the best place to do it is in a classroom free of flags.
Scotsman
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
WhatsApp removed from Scottish Government phones after Nicola Sturgeon deleted messages in Covid backlash
Ministers and officials were previously criticised for deleting messages during the Covid pandemic Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... WhatsApp and other mobile messaging apps are being removed from Scottish Government phones as a new policy comes into effect. It follows a fierce backlash over the mass deletion of messages by ministers and officials during the Covid pandemic. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Kate Forbes, the deputy first minister, previously said a ban would come into force by the spring. The WhatsApp app icon on a smartphone | PA This came in response to an external review led by former Channel Islands data protection commissioner Emma Martins. The policy applies to all Scottish Government employees including contractors, senior civil servants, special advisers and ministers. The stance states mobile messaging apps and 'non-corporate communication channels' will not be permitted on government devices. The Scottish Government said a small number of business areas will take part 'in a time-bound and limited transition period' until the end of 2025. This includes areas responding to emergencies such as wildfires or for matters of safety and security. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Forbes said: 'We are setting out a clear approach to ending government use of mobile messaging apps, and this will support wider work to deliver on our commitment to openness and transparency. PA 'The use of mobile messaging apps increased during the pandemic as staff worked remotely in unprecedented and difficult circumstances. Having reflected on our working practices, we are now implementing changes to the use of such apps. 'This follows on from actions to implement other recommendations from Ms Martins' externally-led review including updating our hybrid working policy. 'I want to reassure the public that it is a priority of this government to maintain secure and searchable data, ensuring compliance with all records management rules. We will continue to act to ensure our data policies are robust, especially considering technological advances.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In late 2023, lead counsel to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Jamie Dawson KC, said most of the messages sent within the Scottish Government had been deleted. It later transpired a number of senior members of the Government, including John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon, had deleted messages, though both stressed they did not relate to government business. Former First Minister, and titan in Scottish politics, will be speaking at this year's Edinburgh Book Festival celebrating the launch of her new book, Frankly. | Getty Images Former national clinical director Jason Leitch was also criticised for describing deleting WhatsApp messages as a 'pre-bed ritual', while another senior clinician warned colleagues that messages could be published under Freedom of Information legislation. Figures in the UK government also came under fire. Alister Jack, the former Scottish secretary, told the Covid inquiry he deleted his WhatsApps to free up storage capacity on his phone. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "If I could turn the clock back knowing what I know now, I would have sought a different solution for my lack of storage capacity,' he said. Former first minister Humza Yousaf announced an external review into the use of WhatsApp and other messaging services last year. Some of his own WhatsApp messages with Mr Leitch have caused embarrassment after being released. The Scotsman previously revealed Mr Yousaf called a senior lawyer a 'Tory f**kwit' in a private chat.
Daily Mail
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
JENNY LINDSAY: Scots women were cancelled for simply believing in biology. The courts said we were right. So why is the nation's biggest book festival STILL intent on silencing us?
The alert arrived at 10:30am: 'I searched for your name in the 2025 Edinburgh Book Festival. In vain!' This was followed by an unsmiling emoji and was posted to me on X (formerly Twitter) by a long-time supporter of my writing. I've been dreading last week's Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) programme announcement for some time. A couple of months ago, realising that the programming deadline had likely passed, I made a joke on X about missing being invited to festivals as I used to love the free tote bags that authors receive on arrival. I almost deleted the joke, thinking it may sound a bit churlish, but people immediately expressed outrage that I hadn't yet been booked for a single Scottish book festival, of which there are several. Edinburgh hosts the biggest one. Until the programme announcement, I knew some were hoping I'd be there with my latest book. People also hoped to see Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Susan Dalgety invited, as editors of the Sunday Times bestselling anthology The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht, to which I contributed a chapter. But all three of us knew that wouldn't be happening. I'd pitched many months ago on behalf of all of us, and didn't receive so much as an acknowledgement. In years past, by contrast, I've been welcomed to the EIBF many times, not only when I had a book out, but also as an events chair and a guest programmer for their live literature cabarets. You may be asking yourself: who is this entitled woman?! Why on earth does she think she deserves a platform? Maybe her book is woeful? Badly-written? Didn't sell well? Got terrible reviews? Isn't on an important topic? It's fair to ask all those things. But, while it is frowned upon to blow one's own trumpet as a Scottish writer, none of these things are true of either my own book, Hounded: Women, Harms and the Gender Wars, nor of The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht. Hounded is my debut non-fiction book, which charts the psychological, social, economic, and democratic harms meted out to women who have opposed gender identity ideology. I was approached to write it by my publisher, Polity, in itself a rare example of a commissioning editor actively scouting for new writers. I've been the target of a hounding myself. It began six years ago when I was a poet and events programmer. I called for an end to threats and violence against women trying to meet to discuss the legal problems with men self-identifying as women. This felt a perfectly reasonable thing to wish for, but led to a bewildering set of experiences that culminated in the loss of my entire livelihood. I've since written essays on my experiences and the phenomenon generally. I was suggested as someone who could therefore take on the difficult task of exposing the extent of the abuse that vocal women have been experiencing, with care, diligence, and balance. My book demands neither agreement with my views, nor any other woman's: it asks solely that a reader understands our position, and then assesses whether – even if we are wrong in our views – whether any of the treatment we receive is justifiable. Despite still being targeted by activists, who continue to try to scupper my ability to make a living, reviewers and readers have routinely said that I have done just that. Those who approach the book in good faith know it to be, at root, a plea for a way through this appalling mess; a mess caused precisely by a lack of debate and a rigidity of thinking by activists who refuse the possibility that they might be wrong. But they have been proven wrong. Repeatedly. Including in the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court judgement in favour of For Women Scotland against the Scottish Ministers this April ruled that, yes, as we hounded women have argued for years, 'woman' really does mean 'a biological woman' in the Equality Act 2010. The court made clear that for women to have any rights at all, in some crucial instances, it HAS to mean this. Importantly, that ruling confirmed beyond doubt that the 30-plus women who wrote a chapter for The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht, including JK Rowling, former MP Joanna Cherry, and former prison governor Rhona Hotchkiss, have been correct to push against the ideological creep of activist rhetoric. It demands any man who claims to feel himself a woman should always be viewed as such, whether in a lesbian dating group, a sports team, or a Scottish prison. This has been the wildly unreasonable demand of predominantly male trans activists for decades. The WWWW anthology charts how this oddest of ideas mainstreamed, largely by stealth. It exposes how – starting in the late 1990s - this happened, alongside the shutting down of all dissent, eventually contributing to the downfall of former First MinistersMinister Nicola Sturgeon, disgrace in our national Parliament, and leavingleft abused women with no guaranteed access to single-sex rape crisis services, amongst other foreseeable consequences. Meanwhile, the litany of scandalous cases of women sacked, threatened, and even assaulted for refusing to accept the mantra that 'trans women are women' has grown longer and ever more disturbing. Given the utter chaos caused by this ideology, you might expect two successful, recently published books addressing it to feature at Scotland's largest (and handsomely publicly funded) book festival. Alas, no. As soon as the programme was announced, I knew that supporters of women like me would be rightly angry. Not just at the intentional snubbing, but by the promotion of gender identity activists, whose instinct is to censor opponents, and who have publicly declared their intention to defy the law, clarified by the Supreme Court ruling. To be clear: these people are saying they oppose women's rights and plan to continue breaking our boundaries. Providing compelling proof of the death of irony, the EIBF organisers have chosen as their theme this year the idea of 'Repair.' Their programme promises the festival will explore 'the many things around us which feel broken, and how we might seek to fix them.' Given the 'star' attraction at this year's festival is former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the idea that much 'repairing' is going to happen is laughable. Ms Sturgeon's unstinting support for these activists has survived the reality that male rapists have been housed in women's prisons, her own colleague, Joanna Cherry, being sent death threats, a Supreme Court judgment proving that under her leadership her party beclowned itself, and the atrocious 'heresy hunt' against Roz Adams at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, presided over by trans-identifying Mridul Wadhwa. Ms Adams only 'crime' was to try to assure a rape survivor that her appointed counsellor would be female. There is a weary predictability that, once again, a book festival has chosen to ignore all of this in favour of platforming people who make no secret of their contempt for women like Roz Adams. This week marks the four year anniversary of Maya Forstater, founder of human rights charity Sex Matters, winning a case that confirmed our belief that biological sex is both real and important is 'worthy of respect in a democratic society.' But in the bubble-world of Scotland's literary sector, they've been ignoring that as steadfastly as they're now ignoring the Supreme Court judgment. Our literary scene is small. It is rare that a book on Scottish politics makes it on to the Sunday Times bestsellers list, never mind three times, as The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht did. The editors of that book have every right to be as hacked off as their thousands of readers that they are not platformed. We had all hoped for change at EIBF, for good reason. In an interview last year, upon being appointed as the new director of the festival, Jenny Niven said: 'We need more places where people can come together to really chew through the more difficult, more controversial topics in society. How do we hear really good information away from all the kind of social media noise?' Ms Niven went on to recognise her 'responsibility to create spaces where those sorts of conversations can happen'. What a pity, then, that the programmers of this year's festival have demonstrated no such commitment. I was delighted by Ms Niven's appointment as EIBF director, having long admired her work in Scottish literature. It gives me zero pleasure to appear to criticise someone I know to have cared deeply about writer development, books, and festivals generally. I strongly defended Ms Niven and the festival last year, when both came under fire from activist campaign group Fossil Free Books (FFB), who opposed the EIBF's funding from long-time sponsor Baillie Gifford. Unsurprisingly, a great deal of those involved with FFB are also ardent gender identity activists. To reward these censorious disruptors with lavishly supported literary platforms, when they enthusiastically destroyed the EIBF's partnership with its main sponsor of over two decades, feels, to me, completely absurd. Similarly, to rightly note a duty for book festivals to platform discussions about 'controversial topics' then fail to host one on this issue is a serious lost opportunity. For years, the most 'controversial' thing a writer could say, gaining a 'provocateur' label in the process, has been: 'no, trans women are not women and there are sound moral and legal reasons why people should stop pretending they are.' Continued refusal to explore those reasons by not platforming women who've set them out isn't wrong solely on freedom of expression grounds. It also gives succour to those continuing to heap further abuse on women already reeling from their years-long houndings. Another high-profile event at this year's festival features trans-identifying writer, Juno Dawson, who, following the Supreme Court judgment wrote: 'a few very determined transphobes have crawled their way to the heart of the law like maggots in an apple.' The movement Juno Dawson supports claims campaign groups such as For Women Scotland 'dehumanise' their opponents. But given frequent references to us as 'maggots', 'vermin,' 'TERFS,' – or, as recent single from songwriter Kate Nash had it – 'GERMS,' it's perfectly clear who is doing the dehumanising. A further corruption of language and meaning. Gender-identity ideology has broken many things that need 'repaired' if we are to have a functioning democracy, never mind a healthy literary culture. Ostracising the women trying to fix things, while simultaneously platforming those who hound them, is a continuation of division, not a healing of the rift. It is beyond time for the arts and culture industries to realise this. I'd hoped the fierce grip that activist-writers have on our literary world was starting to weaken. It's the hope that kills, of course. But – should said writers not lose the EIBF more sponsors - there's always next year.
