Are politicians' book festival appearances just a disguised party political broadcast?

The pro-Palestinian woman attacked the Scottish Government for its engagement with Israel, after a Scottish Government minister had been forced to apologise for his meeting with the country’s deputy ambassador amid its war in Gaza. The event, a discussion about 25 years of devolution, was cut short five minutes early with no more questions.

Undeterred, Mr Swinney has jumped back on the horse with the announcement of an appearance at the Borders Book Festival in June, when he will be crossing his fingers that his government has not done anything controversial in the preceding weeks.

He will not be alone. Also taking to the stage in Melrose are two former UK Government cabinet ministers, Conservatives Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt.

Mr Swinney’s appearance is the latest event in an indisputable trend on the rise in book - and other - festivals in recent years: the tenuous cultural links of politicians.

Arguably, in Scotland, the trend for MSPs’ appearances at book festivals was led by one of Mr Swinney’s predecessors, Nicola Sturgeon. Ms Sturgeon’s name began creeping into the book festival calendar during her leadership, partly due to her public perception as a bookworm: the reading person’s First Minister, who published an annual list of her favourite books.

Separately, former SNP MP Mhairi Black is doing a circuit of her own, presenting her politics-themed stand up routine at comedy festivals across the country.

This is of course, not new. Politicians have spoken at book festivals for years, but in a trawl of older festival programmes, they have more often appeared as part of wider panel discussions on a specific issue, or in a politically balanced debate.

Meanwhile, Mr Swinney’s experience last year is where the problem with politicians speaking at cultural events arguably lies: entertainment and politics are not easy bedfellows. And increasingly, the line between the two is becoming blurred.

It emerged last month that US Government funding for the Edinburgh International Book Festival was to be axed by President Donald Trump amid concerns that the event was promoting discussion on “gender identity and racial equality”. While Mr Trump’s reasoning for making the cuts is typically abhorrent, it did raise questions over why a foreign government was funding any discussion events at all in Scotland.

In the Borders, Mr Swinney will be interviewed by a former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister, which is undoubtedly a nod towards attempts at mitigating the issue of party politics. The pair will also stick to the neutral topic of the books which have shaped the First Minister’s thinking - but it is hard to imagine how he can talk about his thinking without...talking about his political thinking.

In September, however, an appearance at Wigtown Book Festival by deputy first minister Kate Forbes did not try to disguise itself as anything other than a live Party Political Broadcast. Instead, in a lengthy speech, Ms Forbes discussed issues including her party’s need to rebuild trust and the likelihood of getting her Budget through parliament.

Politicians keen to have their platform heard are potentially filling a gap at book festivals struggling for funding. However, arts leaders need to be careful to make sure they can walk the tightrope without making any serious missteps.