Artists who “interfere” with other creatives’ ability to make a living through their work should be permanently banned from Scottish Government funding, it has been claimed.  

Rapper-turned writer Darren McGarvey has said a new code of conduct is needed at Scottish Government arts body Creative Scotland to prevent rows which costs artists their livelihoods.  

The award-winning author waded into a row surrounding the treatment of poet Jenny Lindsay by Creative Scotland employee and fellow poet Dr Alice Tarbuck.  

It was reported last week that Dr Tarbuck had contacted a bookshop asking them not to stock copies of Lindsay’s book “Hounded”, which recounts her experiences of being blackballed from Scotland’s literary scene. 

Lindsay says she was ‘cancelled’ in 2019 after speaking out over threats from a trans activist against lesbian women on Pride marches – losing support from former friends and fellow artists. 

But her attempt to tell her side of the story five years later re-ignited the row, with Tarbuck allegedly seeking to block sales of the book and keep Lindsay from returning to the limelight.  

Poet Jenny LindsayPoet Jenny Lindsay (Image: NQ)

Writing in the Unherd magazine, Darren McGarvey, who began his career as the musician Loki, said the time had come to protect artists’ freedom of speech amidst assaults from the culture wars - with dire consequences for those in the art world trying to silence them. 

He said: “Tarbuck’s conduct speaks to a deeper cultural problem taking hold in parts of the arts which Creative Scotland must now confront if it has any hopes of surviving.  

“We need a new code of conduct for everyone working over there. Staff should be expected to keep their personal politics out of the process or risk being escorted off the premises. 

“Similarly, a parallel code of conduct must outline new expectations of artists receiving funding. All recipients must be guided by an explicit directive that they will refrain from interfering with the work of other artists and their ability to earn a living while in receipt of public support, themselves.” 

McGarvey, a Bafta winning documentary-maker, called for draconian punishments for artists who cross the line.  

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He said: “Such interference, wherever found, should result in the instant withdrawal of support, an order to repay all grants, and a lifetime ban from ever applying in future.  

“One suspects such action may produce its own cooling effect in some overheated ideological conclaves where extremist behaviour appears relative to the level of state subsidy received.” 

McGarvey, whose 2017 book ‘Poverty Safari’ won the Orwell Prize, said that he has not had to rely on Creative Scotland funding to further his career, and was free to speak out. 

He said that those who do rely on cash from the Scottish Government agency face appeasing “petty and vindictive competing factions in small tight-knit creative scenes” who express themselves through “intense culture-war conflicts”, and accused the body of being “tone-deaf to working-class creators”. 

He added: “There’s plenty to disagree with Jenny Lindsay about, but anyone working in the arts in Scotland already understands how running ideological battles both major and minor can dictate which of us are granted opportunities and which of us aren’t.” 

He continued: “This endemic insecurity, engendered by 14-years of austerity, also played a role in many looking the other way when Lindsay tumbled from atop the Scottish poetry community four years ago and speaks to the unwritten cultural commandments which must be adhered to if you wish to survive as a creator in the current climate.” 

Creative Scotland have been approached for comment.