Joan Smith at UnHerd:
An intolerant movement has found a new target: literary festivals. Last night, in a development that should worry everyone who values open debate, the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) followed the example of the Hay Festival by suspending links with one of its sponsors, the investment company Baillie Gifford.
Both festivals have been hit by authors withdrawing and fears of disruption, prompted by a little-known group calling themselves “Fossil Free Books”. In recent weeks, they sent an email to writers, calling on them to protest about Hay’s sponsorship deal with Baillie Gifford or withdraw from appearing. The activists accuse the company of investing in the petrochemical industry and criticise its links with companies that operate in Israel.
In reality, Baillie Gifford’s investment in fossil fuels is 2%, well below the industry average, while their involvement in Israel consists of investing in companies such as Amazon and Airbnb, which millions of consumers use without qualm everyday. Predictably, the flight from Hay was led not by authors, but the singer Charlotte Church, the Labour MP Dawn Butler and the Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti. But around 600 authors signed an open letter, leading to events being cancelled and tickets having to be refunded. In Edinburgh, similar pressure was being exerted....
In an over-heated atmosphere, where prominent people live in terror of saying or doing the wrong thing, activists have enormous influence. During the Labour leadership campaign in 2020, a previously unknown organisation calling itself the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights demanded that the candidates sign a series of pledges, including one to expel “transphobic” members of the party. Most did, including Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey and current deputy leader, Angela Rayner.
The speed with which well-known people give in to the demands of self-appointed moral arbiters is astonishing. Some appear to have lost any capacity for critical thinking, responding like Pavlov’s dogs to a series of cues: trans rights, fossil fuels, Israel. Writers, of all people, should know better. This is not moral clarity, but its exact opposite.
But, encouragingly, there has been a backlash:
Dozens of Scotland’s top writers have criticised the ”perverse” and “deeply retrograde” impact of protests over the sponsorship of Edinburgh International Book Festival. Close to 70 celebrated authors, including Val McDermid, Liz Lochead, Jackie Kay, Chris Brookmyre, Andrew O’Hagan and Alexander McCall Smith, have signed an open letter raising concerns about the campaign and the future of the festival.
Writers, that is, who you've heard of, unlike the signatories of that open letter - Michael Rosen plus a load of numpties.
In the open letter, sent exclusively to The Scotsman, the writers said they were “profoundly concerned” about the fate of the UK’s book festivals and other cultural events, and the “likely consequences” of calls for boycotts related to festival sponsorship by Baillie Gifford.
It said: “In particular we are deeply concerned about the future of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF). As citizens, we are absolutely right to keep up the pressure for fossil fuel divestment. We also call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the release of hostages.
“However, a strategy of protest which results in EIBF being left without a principal sponsor will jeopardise its future: this would be a Pyrrhic victory, and merely deprive writers and activists of platform and influence.”
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