John Swinney has criticised climate activists for their “misplaced” campaign against investment firm Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship of book festivals.
The Wigtown Book Festival, Borders Literary Festival in Melrose and the Edinburgh International Book Festival have all ended their association with the company following pressure from protest groups.
All have expressed anxiety about their ability to deliver events without the funding.
READ MORE: Climate activists and Palestinian campaigners killing book festivals
During First Minister’s Questions, Labour MSP Neil Bibby asked Mr Swinney to convene an “urgent meeting with private and philanthropic supporters to ensure there is ongoing sponsorship of the arts and culture sector”.
The First Minister replied: “I’ve personally been deeply concerned by the events which have taken place, and I’ve personally spoken with the leadership of Baillie Gifford because I’m concerned about the targeting of that organisation, because I welcome the support that they provide in a philanthropic way to many organisations, and I reassured the company of the importance that I attach to their contribution to the economy.
"I think the disinvestment campaigns are misplaced. I don’t think they achieve their objectives. They are now jeopardising really important cultural festivals that I know Mr Bibby and I value equally.”
The First Minister said he would consider proposals for “further, more formal dialogue”.
The Fossil Free Book campaign have been calling on authors to boycott book festivals with links to Baillie Gifford, because of their investments in oil and gas, and coal, as well as Israel's defence, tech and cybersecurity industries.
When Edinburgh International Book Festival ended its long partnership with the company, Jenny Niven, the chief executive, said the “pressure” on her team had “simply become intolerable.”
READ MORE: Patrick Harvie: Book festival boycotts miss mark in divestment row
Nick Thomas, a partner with Baillie Gifford, said previously: “We hold the activists squarely responsible for the inhibiting effect their action will have on funding for the arts in this country.
“Baillie Gifford is a long-term investor with high ethical standards and a complete focus on doing what is right by our clients.”
He added: “Only 2% of our clients’ money is invested in companies with some business related to fossil fuels.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel