Cancelling people you don’t agree with shuts down debate and destroys creativity - Susan Dalgety

If there is one thing I love about Edinburgh’s festivals, it is the anarchy they bring to the city once a year.

Edinburgh International Festival Director Nicola Benedetti hosts a reception for the First Minister Minister Hamza Yousaf, at The Hub. Both pictured with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, President of Fringe Society.

Buses don’t run on time, shows are unaffordable for many and some of the street performers shouldn’t have bothered getting out of bed.

But what colour and energy! For four weeks a year, our city feels like the most exciting place on earth where anything goes, from live seances to a comedy show that features a boa constrictor and doves.

Even the more highbrow International Festival offers some quirky performances, and this year one of its three themes is ‘A Perspective That’s Not One’s Own’.

First time Festival Director Nicola Benedetti explains that she hopes the Festival will contribute to “a deeper culture of listening, improved understanding of another person’s point of view and increased our tolerance of each other,” and makes a plea for tolerance for our “messy, beautiful, diverse story of humanity”.

Encore Ms Benedetti. Our messy, beautiful, diverse humanity is exactly what we should be celebrating every August in Edinburgh, but it seems that some venues and performers only want to celebrate one particular cultural or political standpoint – theirs – and are prepared to indulge in crude censorship to stop others from being heard.

Staff at Edinburgh’s iconic comedy club The Stand failed in their bid to stop a show starring Joanna Cherry MP because they disagreed with her views on feminism, but only after lawyers intervened.

A few days ago, the Leith Arches almost scuppered an appearance by the creator of Father Ted, Graham Linehan, because of his stance on trans rights

“We will not allow such views to violate our space,” screamed the venue’s Instagram post announcing the cancellation of Linehan’s show.

A replacement space also cancelled. Luckily, its promotors found the perfect last-minute venue – outside the Scottish Parliament - and the sell-out event went ahead.

Unlike Greta Thunberg’s appearance at the Book Festival. The self-styled eco-warrior pulled out of her appearance because the festival is sponsored by Edinburgh investment firm Baillie Gifford.

She claimed the firm invests heavily in fossil fuels, and so she did not want to be associated with it. The truth is it only invests two per cent of its clients’ money in companies with some business related to fossil fuels, compared to the market average of 11 per cent.

And an open letter signed by more than 50 authors calls for Baillie Gifford to be dropped as the festival’s main sponsor next year.

One author, Yara Rodrigues Fowler, said that allowing Baillie Gifford to sponsor cultural events gives the firm a “social licence to continue funding the destruction of our only home.”

I presume, given her principled stance, Ms Fowler does not have heating in her home nor uses any transport other than electric vehicles and boycotts all products made from fossil fuels.

That’s the trouble with censorship. Cancelling people you don’t agree with, or boycotting events paid for by law-abiding companies trying their best in a complex world, shuts down debate and destroys creativity.

Edinburgh, of all places, should be open to everyone. That’s what makes our messy, beautiful, diverse festivals the best in the world.