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The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Angus Robertson's secret Israel meeting minutes revealed
ON a warm summer's night last August, John Swinney took to the stage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival for a fireside chat with former Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford. Two of the most seasoned veterans of the devolution era, Swinney and Drakeford talked of the importance of 'collaborative' politics. Then a piercing cry rang through the auditorium. 'Your party is mingling with genocidal deputy ambassadors,' a young woman shouted. The event was swiftly ended, and the protester hustled out. She might well have been disappointed to see the First Minister on stage. Until days before, the man whom she accused of 'mingling' with the Israeli government, Angus Robertson, had been due to appear instead. The photograph of Robertson with the beaming Daniela Grudsky, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK, had that month rocked the Scottish Government and created a schism within the SNP. READ MORE: 'Time to take action': What it was like at the national Palestine demo in Edinburgh Robertson faced loud calls to quit his role as the Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs. Critics argued the meeting was a 'breach of trust' when Israel stood accused of grave breaches of international law in Gaza, and with its prime minister then under investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Israel denies claims it is committing war crimes or perpetrating genocide in Gaza, and rejects the jurisdiction of the ICC, which issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu on war crimes charges in November 2024. A year on, despite the intense furore around the meeting, the public still knows little on how it came about or what was discussed. Now The Ferret can shed new light on the affair, revealing details of previously withheld internal emails, WhatsApp chats and partial minutes of the meeting. They show ministers, advisers and officials across Swinney's government were entangled. And we can reveal that while publicly stating that the 'UK is in danger of being complicit in killing innocent civilians', behind the scenes, the Scottish Government tried to set up an earlier meeting with Swinney and the ambassador and was talking itself up as a 'critical friend' of Israel. In response to this story, Robertson told The Ferret that under the 'abhorrent circumstances' Gazans face 'at the hands of the Israeli government', the Scottish Government is 'unequivocal that it would not be appropriate to meet with the Israeli government' until 'real progress has been made towards peace'. Our findings come after a 10-month freedom of information (FoI) battle, which involved challenges to the Scottish Information Commissioner and claims from the Scottish Government that releasing details of the meeting could damage UK-Israeli relations and even be seen as 'antisemitic'. Swinney 'actively sought a meeting' with Israeli ambassador On May 8, 2024, John Swinney took office as Scotland's First Minister. For his predecessor, Humza Yousaf, the Palestinian cause had been close to home – his own parents-in-law had been visiting relatives in Gaza when the Israeli bombardment began in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1200 people. More than 250 hostages were also taken. Swinney quickly faced criticism over a perceived lack of action on the issue. The Scottish Greens called on the new First Minister 'to demonstrate that Scotland's solidarity with the people of Palestine extends to action, not just words' and, in response, the Government reiterated Yousaf's call for a ceasefire and for the UK Government to ban arms exports to Israel. Swinney followed up with a tweet on May 27, stating that the 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Gaza was 'one of the greatest moral issues of our time'. But secret emails show that just a week later, on June 3, a Scottish Government official emailed the Israeli Embassy, looking to speak to 'someone urgently to make arrangements' for a meeting between Swinney and Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely (below), while she was in Scotland. The embassy's Israel-Scotland affairs officer advised this visit was no longer going ahead because of 'sudden security threats', but that the ambassador was 'eager to meet with the First Minister virtually'. Later that day, the embassy emailed a 'list of attendees' for a meeting which included Hotovely, the embassy's head of civil society Hodaya Avzada, and the Israel Scotland affairs officer. Some other names are redacted. Asked about these exchanges, the Scottish Government said the meeting referenced in the 'list of attendees' did not go ahead and no meetings with representatives of the Israeli government took place before August 8. But Scottish Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba argued this was evidence Swinney's government had 'actively sought a meeting with a representative of a state whose prime minister is now wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity'. On July 30, a Scottish Government official's phone pinged with a WhatsApp message from embassy official Avzada. 'Hope you're well?' she asked. 'We should get back to you today re DCM [deputy chief of mission] visit,' the official replied. 'Apols for delay.' Discussions had progressed, and a trip to Scotland was being arranged for the deputy ambassador – or DCM – Daniela Grudsky. 'It is next week and the schedule is filling,' Avzada said. Less than two hours later, an official emailed Angus Robertson, copying in Swinney, recommending that he meet with Grudsky – and warning of 'sensitivities' over the Gaza war. Azvada asked via WhatsApp if there was 'any chance we could meet' Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes as well, but was told: 'FM isn't available, so Mr Robertson is the right interlocutor.' 'Transparency takes up so much time' As soon as the meeting was firmed up for August 8, discussions turned to communications management. 'We'd normally issue a short statement for transparency's sake,' the Scottish Government official told Avzada. 'But let me know if you have any security considerations, esp around timing.' It was agreed there would be no announcement of the meeting until the Monday following, August 12. Avzada made sure to double-check that the embassy could issue the tweet that would ultimately ignite the whole controversy, and was told: 'Yeah that's fine.' READ MORE: 55 arrested in Westminster as protests grow over Palestine Action ban The Scottish official then told Avzada: 'You'll be aware we are usually inundated with freedom of information requests. Practically every meeting our ministers have is FOI'd. We redact sensitive information, but the bar is high, and we have to justify it. The FOIs are usually inspired by comms but if we don't issue something, we're criticised for being secretive!' The official added: 'Transparency is obviously a good thing, but it takes up such a lot of our time.' In her official response, Avzada said the embassy did 'not consent' to the release of information about meetings, 'in order to allow the fruitful and open discourse between Israel and the United Kingdom'. This would later be echoed, almost word for word, by the Scottish Government in its reasoning for denying The Ferret's FOI requests. Subsequent emails show that the Scottish Government provided further updates on FOI requests to the Israeli Embassy after the meeting, which reiterated its position that no information should be released. Amnesty International told The Ferret that it appeared the Scottish Government already had 'one eye' on the challenges that requests for transparency would create for them, even before the meeting took place. Meanwhile, Talat Yaqoob, an equality campaigner and researcher who has worked in the Scottish Parliament, said it was 'extraordinary that a foreign government would get any say over what the Scottish public is permitted to know about the work of its own elected officials'. 'Freedom of information law exists to enable accountability – it is not something to attempt to circumvent or over-complicate,' she added. The Scottish Government said it had complied fully with the Scottish Information Commissioner and pointed out that information can be withheld under freedom of information law if it could substantially prejudice relations between the UK and another country. 'Critical friends'? After public anger had erupted around the meeting, Swinney tweeted on August 14 that it had been 'accepted on the basis it would provide an opportunity to convey our consistent position on the killing and suffering of innocent civilians in the region'. But the Scottish Government had already put out a statement saying that the attendees had also discussed 'areas of mutual interest, including culture, renewable energy, and engaging the country's respective diasporas'. In the redacted minutes released to The Ferret, much of the section on 'Israel/Scotland relations' is blacked out. But the minutes do 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.' While Swinney publicly referenced the 'killing and suffering of civilians', the minutes suggest that Robertson adopted a more reserved tone with Grudsky, noting that 'every effort must be taken to reduce civilian casualties'. MSP Villalba claimed the minutes showed the Scottish Government's private attitude to Israel was 'quite different' to its public stance. She added that her constituents were organising weekly protests against what they see as UK complicity in the war in Gaza. They would be asking whether Robertson still believed Scotland could be 'critical friends' with a country currently facing genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice, Villalba claimed. In a 'profound apology' issued to delegates at the SNP conference on September 1, after heavy criticism from within the party, Robertson said one of the Government's priorities for the meeting was to express its support for an 'end of UK arms being sent to Israel'. But there is no mention of this in the minutes released. Yaqoob said it was a failure of leadership that arms sales do not appear to have been addressed. She said the apparent omission was a 'dereliction of duty' given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The aftermath At 2.37pm on August 12, the Scottish Government posted about the meeting on its international division's Twitter/X account. Barely anyone noticed – perhaps unsurprising, given the account only has 4500 followers. At 5.36pm, Grudsky posted her own now infamous tweet, complete with the picture of the pair by an art deco fireplace in St Andrew's House. She said they had discussed 'the unique commonalities between' Scotland and Israel and 'emphasised the urgent need to bring back our 115 hostages'. There was no mention of a ceasefire call. 'Looking forward to co-operating in the fields of technology, culture and renewable energy,' Grudsky added. Over the next few days, dissent began to bubble in the SNP ranks. Backbench MSPs Kevin Stewart, Christine Grahame and Emma Roddick all put their heads above the parapet. On August 14, Swinney issued his statement on Twitter/X, but Robertson himself laid low. A Scottish Government official emailed the Edinburgh Book Festival to give 'a quick heads up that FM will now be attending' the event with Drakeford – instead of Robertson. On the morning of Monday, August 19 – with the 'ongoing public controversy' having continued to rage over the weekend – Swinney called Robertson in for a meeting. 'They discussed the history of the issue and noted the public remarks of MSPs, MPs and commentators,' records released to The Ferret reveal. 'They reflected on the need to address the concerns raised by the meeting around the Scottish Government's position on the relationship with the Israeli government. In particular, they noted the need to be more clear that the Scottish Government did not believe that 'normal' relations with the Israeli government were currently possible given the events in Gaza and the position of the ICC.' They also agreed it was time for Robertson to break his silence – and issue his original apology. This was circulated among officials and redrafted by international relations deputy director John Primrose, and Swinney's special adviser, Jack Middleton. In the wake of the controversy, the Government ruled out further meetings with Israeli diplomats until progress has been made in Gaza peace talks. But arms firms supplying Israel continue to receive subsidies from the Scottish Government. It is only thanks to repeated FOI requests from The Ferret and other media outlets that this information has entered the public domain. And there are details of the meeting between Grudsky and Robertson, which remain hidden from public view, including the discussions they held about the other topics which are redacted in the minutes released. 'It is squarely in the public interest to have absolute clarity on whether the cabinet secretary presented a strong challenge to the deputy ambassador over war crimes and violations of international law in Gaza when they met,' said Amnesty's Liz Thomson. 'Just months before that meeting took place, Amnesty asked Robertson for a clear framework on how human rights considerations inform international engagement and raised concerns that the Scottish Government's action wasn't matching its rhetoric. Such guidance is clearly needed to inform all external affairs activity.' Labour's Villalba was more direct. 'We need answers – and we need them now,' she said. READ MORE: RECAP: Activists defy Labour with illegal pro-Palestine T-shirts at Edinburgh demo In a statement provided to The Ferret, Robertson, said: 'Close to 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza [some estimates say the death toll is higher] – 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.' At the Book Festival that night, Swinney said that devolution had 'strengthened the self-confidence of Scotland'. Over two decades of self-government, Scotland has become more visible on the international stage. But to critics, the Robertson affair has exposed serious gaps in transparency and accountability about how – and with whom – Scotland does diplomacy. The Embassy of Israel in London did not respond to requests for a comment.
Korea Herald
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Hwang Sok-yong to speak at Edinburgh Book Festival
International Booker Prize-nominated author Hwang Sok-yong will attend the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Aug. 19, in a session titled 'Hwang Sok-yong: The Voice of a Divided Nation.' A towering figure in the Korean literary world, Hwang is renowned for chronicling the country's turbulent modern history. His latest translated novel in English, "Mater 2-10" — shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize and co-translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae — is a sweeping epic that spans more than a century of Korean history. It traces the lives of three generations of railway workers and a laid-off factory worker staging a high-rise sit-in, unfolding from the Japanese colonial era through liberation and into the 21st century. Festival organizers describe Hwang as 'unmatched in depicting the social and political realities of his ruptured homeland,' noting his literary career across five decades and a list of Korea's most prestigious literary prizes. Hwang spent years in exile and was imprisoned for an unauthorized trip to North Korea in 1989 to foster artistic exchange between the two Koreas. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and released in 1998 on a special pardon by then-President Kim Dae-jung. Meanwhile, Sun Seung-hye, director of the Korean Cultural Center UK, will speak at the festival on Aug. 12 alongside Sean Xie, representative of the Beijing International Book Fair. Together, they will explore the global rise of web novels, how they are redefining the way stories are written, shared and consumed.
The Herald Scotland
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Val McDermid: Politics is an 'absolute cesspit of misogyny'
McDermid said she would not even consider entering the political sphere because it had become so toxic. Read more: The writer, who previously worked in newspaper journalism, said modern-day politics had become "totally personalised", with women targeted for abuse if they put their head "above the parapet." McDermid, a close friend of Nicola Sturgeon, has shared a stage with her at a number of recent events, including the Glasgow Comedy Festival. Nicola Sturgeon and Val McDermid have appeared together at a number of recent festivals and events. They are due to appear next month in separate events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where the former First Minister is due to launch her memoir. The author was speaking in Edinburgh to promote Queen Macbeth, the real-life 11th century Scottish king and queen who inspired Shakespeare's Macbeth and Lady Macbeth characters. McDermid, who was interviewed by Ms Sturgeon about the book in Edinburgh last year, revealed she was given the option to completely "reimagine" the Lady Macbeth character by her publisher. She told the audience: "They told me to do it any way I wanted, including setting the book in the real historic period or in contemporary Scotland. "I just thought: 'Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong with a strong woman being persecuted in contemporary Scotland. How much trouble could I get into with that?'" During the in-conversation event at the Portobello Bookshop, McDermid was asked about the treatment of Chancellor Rachel Reeves over her tearful appearance in the House of Commons last week. The author said: "If that had been a man having a man having an emotional moment he would have been heralded for having emotions. "Politics particularly right now is an absolute cesspit of misogyny. Women are being really picked on for all sorts of things. "If you put your head above the parapet you are used as a target. "I wouldn't go into politics as a woman. It is totally personalised. "We have seen it in Scotland. We have seen women politicians being trashed and traduced." Asked what kept her awake at night, McDermid said she tried to focus on what writing she would be doing the following day, including how to resolve plot problems. She added: "I don't mind being kept awake by that kind of thing. "I try not to think about things that make me want to go out with an AK47. "If I think too much about what is happening in the outside world I am paralysed by horror. I just try to focus on my own work and what's in front of me." McDermid suggested a "Janey Godley Memorial Protest" should be organised to welcome American President Donald Trump for his forthcoming visit to Scotland. Earlier this year, McDermid said some of the online abuse targeted at Nicola Sturgeon was "disgusting." She said at the time: "There are a lot of men who do not like the idea of a successful woman, in whatever walk of life."
The Herald Scotland
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Val McDermid's new play has been 40 years in the making
The crime writer's long-time ambition to tackle the unsolved mystery over the death of 16th century English playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe is about to be realised at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, which has just been taken over by the Perthshire-born actor. Read more: McDermid sent Cumming her unperformed script for 'And Midnight Never Come' after plans to bring it to the stage of one of Edinburgh's best-known theatres were abandoned due to a lack of funding. However the play has been rebooted by Cumming in his first year as artistic director at Pitlochry, after agreeing to stage a special 'script-in-hand reading' ahead of his first season of full-scale productions in 2026. Alan Cumming is helping to bring Val McDermid's new play to the stage. (Image: Supplied) McDermid is working with director Philip Howard, former artistic director of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, to bring to life her script, which will be performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival the night after its Pitlochry premiere. And Midnight Never Come will focus on the run-up to the death of Marlowe, who was said to have been fatally stabbed in a guest house in Kent on May 30, 1593. Crime writer Val McDermid has sold more than 19 million books to date. (Image: PA) There have been centuries of debate and conflicting theories over Marlowe's death, including claims that he may have been killed over an involvement with espionage, was assassinated on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I, was targeted for his religious beliefs or was murdered by a former lover. McDermid, from Kirkcaldy in Fife, initially pursued a career as a journalist after studying English at Oxford University. She said: 'I was captivated by Marlowe as a writer when I was an undergraduate student. When I read up on what is known about his life I found it fascinating. "The more I read and discovered the more the version of his death seemed to be implausible. 'I came up with my own theory about what happened to him and that's what underpins the play, although I don't want to say any more about that theory. People will have to come and see it for themselves. 'When you are writing something that is rooted in the past you know certain things. It's about trying to come up with a story that makes sense with the facts that we know. That's what I've done with Marlowe. "My first attempts at this were more than 40 years ago. I just couldn't work out how to do it structurally and tell the story that I had in my head. I went back to it time and again over the years." McDermid has sold more than 19 million books and seen her work translated into more than 40 different languages since her first attempt at a novel when she was working as a trainee journalist in Devon. She recalled: 'My first attempt at a book was full of tortured relationships and all the big emotions – grief, rage, jealousy and love. It was truly terrible although I did finish it. 'But I also sent it to a friend of mine who was an actor and she said to me: 'I don't know much about books, but I think this would make a really good play.' 'I thought: 'That's easy. I'll just cross out the descriptions and leave in the speaking bits.' That's essentially what I did.' 'I wrote some extra scenes to cover the bits I'd crossed out and went to the local theatre. The director was very excited about it and said it would be perfect for a season of new plays. 'Completely by accident, I was a professionally performed playwright by the age of 23. 'I thought it was the start of something big and that I was going to be the new Harold Pinter, but it didn't work out that way.' Although McDermid's debut was adapted by the BBC, her career as a playwright was halted when was dropped by her agent 'after a couple of years of not making him any money.' The writer recalled: 'I just couldn't write any more plays because I didn't understand what I'd done right. The ambition and desire were there, but unfortunately skills and ability were not. Nowadays you can go off on a course and learn the nuts and bolts of your craft. But that wasn't really available back then. 'I just didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. I thought I should go off and do something that I understood how it worked. I had read a lot of crime fiction since I was about nine years old, so I thought I could maybe have a crack at a crime novel. 'At the time, in the early 1980s, the only British crime fiction that was around were village mysteries and police procedurals. I felt I didn't know enough about the police to write a convincing police procedural novel, so I got a bit stuck. 'What finally got me moving was when a friend of mine who had moved to America sent me a copy of Sara Paretsky's first novel, one of the early iterations of so-called new-wave feminist crime fiction. 'Her private eye character was a woman who had a brain and a sense of humour. She didn't rely on the guys to do the heavy lifting. When the going got tough she just got tougher. What I also liked about her novel was its strong sense of place. There was a sense that the story arose from the city of Chicago. It had a sense of social politics as well. That book really inspired me to get started.' McDermid's debut novel, Report for Murder, was published in 1987 and kick-started a career which has seen her write more than 50 books to date, and develop five separate series. One of the most recent, focusing on the detective Karen Pirie, is about to return to ITV for a second series this month, with Lauren Lyle returning to the lead role. McDermid's return to theatre work has emerged seven years after a foray into the lunchtime drama series A Play, A Pie and A Pint, with political comedy Margaret Saves Scotland, about a Yorkshire schoolgirl who returns from a holiday filled with a burning desire for Scottish independence. The experience of working on that show with director Marilyn Imrie persuaded McDermid to return to the idea of a play about the Marlowe mystery several decades after she had first started to work on it. McDermid's play, which depicts the last day of Marlowe's life as well as key events in his life, was snapped up by the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh and went into development for a full production, which was shelved after the theatre decided it was unaffordable. McDermid was in talks over a possible performance of her script at last year's book festival, which did not go ahead due to a programme organised to mark 200 years of James Hogg's novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Within weeks, though, Cumming had been unveiled as Pitlochry Festival Theatre's new artistic director. McDermid said: 'When Alan took over at Pitlochry I thought: 'I'll let Alan take a look at it.' 'He got very excited about it and said: 'This is fantastic, I love it, we must talk about it.' 'He said would talk to me about it at the Winter Words book festival earlier this year. 'The weekend went on and nothing had happened. I said to my partner: 'I think he was just being nice.' 'After the final event at the festival, he collared me and said: 'We have to talk now!' 'He told me he wanted to do a rehearsed reading of it. I said that the Edinburgh book festival had talked about doing that, but it hadn't actually happened. He suggested that it was done as a joint project. Two days later we were all in a Zoom call to sort out the details. It was amazing. 'My main hope now is that people out and enjoy it. I also hope that a producing theatre will have someone in the audience who thinks: 'We should be putting this on stage.' 'I know theatres have timetables, schedules and budgets. I'm not putting any pressure on anyone to do it. 'But I would love it if it was on at Pitlochry because there is such a great team there and it's a place where you can have a real day out. They've got a wonderful restaurant, you can eat in the restaurant and then go and see a play. 'Alan is a man of great passions, his work-rate is phenomenal, and he just makes things happen for people. He's the kind of person we need working in the arts at the moment.' McDermid's Marlowe play will finally see the light of day in Pitlochry and Edinburgh in the wake of her book interpreting the story of Lady Macbeth. She said: 'My idea of the perfect novel is one where you don't have to do any research at all because you already know everything you need to know. But that never happens. 'With historical stuff, it's a case of digging down, looking at all the available sources and working your way through them. It just takes a bit longer before you can get started on the writing. 'It does create more work when you write historical books, but when an idea roots itself in your head the only way you can get rid of it is to write it."
Scotsman
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Book Festival 2025: Here are 25 past Booker Prize nominees at this year's event
2 . Ian McEwan One of the greatest living writers – and a man who needs no introduction – Ian McEwan will appear during the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival ahead of the publication of his new novel, What We Can Know at McEwan Hall on Sunday, August 24. McEwan became a Booker Prize winner in 1998 for his novel Amsterdam and he is one of the few writers to have been nominated on six occasions. | Getty Images
