JK Rowling and the 'secrets' of the Edinburgh Award
Plus: Student flats to be turned into homeless accommodation; and the Meadows Festival is 50
Bid to end ‘secrecy’ surrounding Capital’s top civic award
City councillors are to be asked to open up the decision-making process behind an award handed to famous names including Sir Ian Rankin, JK Rowling and Sir Chris Hoy.
The Edinburgh Award was set up in 2006 to annually recognise someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the life of the Capital. Recipients are honoured by having their handprints set in stone outside the City Chambers on the Royal Mile.
Among others to receive the prize are former world boxing champion Ken Buchanan, theoretical physicist Professor Peter Higgs and painter Dame Elizabeth Blackadder.
However, concerns have been raised about a “lack of transparency” in the selection process and a lack of diversity among those chosen for the honour. Out of 18 recipients to date, four are women (Rowling, Blackadder, ‘Queen of Hearts’ Anne Budge and violinist and Festival director Nicola Benedetti) and one is from a black or ethnic minority (human rights campaigner and academic Sir Geoff Palmer).
Ahead of a recipient being chosen for this year’s award, Greens councillor Dan Heap is asking the local authority to make the selection process public and consider ways of recognising a more diverse mix of individuals in future.
How are recipients chosen? Members of the public and city organisations are invited to nominate people for recognition. The winner is then chosen in private by a committee designed to resemble the honours committee that decides knighthoods and similar national awards. It is headed by the Lord Provost (Robert Aldridge) and includes representatives of all political parties, plus a representative from the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and from the Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council (Evoc).
Why the controversy? Cllr Heap says making decisions in private does not reflect well on what is supposed to be one of the city’s most prestigious honours. Although Cllr Heap has not singled out any individuals, the award to JK Rowling has been criticised by LGBTQ campaigners and her handprints were vandalised in 2020 following her statements about sex and gender.
What difference would a public debate make? Supporters say the added scrutiny would ensure a fairer and more open process with the potential for more winners from under-represented communities. There are concerns that publicly debating recipients could lead to embarrassment for nominees or even break data protection laws. It would also open the door to a public debate on any call to remove the award from a past winner, a power which was given to the awards committee last year at the prompting of Green councillor Alex Staniforth.
What happens next? The awards committee will have to decide on Thursday whether to go ahead with choosing this year’s winner in private as usual, open up their discussions to the public, or perhaps strike a compromise by agreeing to look at ways of making the process more transparent in future.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
SISTER ACT: Musician and writer Lucie Barât will make her stage debut at the Traverse this summer as part of the theatre’s newly announced Festival 2025 progamme. Standing in the Shadows of Giants is an autobiographical musical exploring her life growing up with a famous sibling, Carl Barât, co-frontman of The Libertines. Other festival announcements include the premiere of director Paul Sng’s “intimate and personal” documentary about Irvine Welsh, Reality is Not Enough, being selected to close this year’s Film Festival.
BAILED OUT BANK ‘REFLECTIVE’: The chairman of NatWest, formerly known as RBS, has said the bank is in a reflective mood after returning to full private ownership, 17 years after a £46bn taxpayer-funded bail out. Rick Haythornthwaite said: "They not just rescued this bank, they protected millions of savers, of businesses, of homeowners. From the bank's standpoint, it gave us the opportunity to completely restructure into a much safer and stronger bank." The Government is expected to make a £10bn loss on the bail-out and former RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin reportedly continues to receive a £600,000-a-year pension paid by the bank.
TEENAGER RAPED: Police are hunting for a masked man after a teenage girl was raped in York Place in the city centre. The 15-year-old was standing at a bus stop outside Marks & Spencer on Princes Street, when she was approached by the man who was wearing a balaclava, at around 5am on Sunday. He then led her on foot to York Place where she was raped in a basement area.
HOTEL PLAN: Construction of a 109-bedroom hotel at Edinburgh’s Cameron Toll shopping centre is expected to begin next year after plans were approved by city councillors. The new hotel, located on Liberton Road, aims to attract business and leisure travellers, as well as those visiting the nearby Royal Infirmary.
STAR SPOTTING: Indian film star Varun Dhawan, has been drawing large crowds after being spotted filming in the Capital. The 38-year-old has been filming scenes for the romantic comedy Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai in Victoria Street and the beach at Portobello.
BIKERS PATROL: A group of frustrated bikers say they are organising their own patrols after becoming disillusioned with the efforts of Police Scotland to tackle motorbike crime in the Capital. The group intend to identify where stolen motorbikes are being stashed and suspects and pass on details to police. One of the organisers Ross Munro said: “In my opinion Police Scotland are fighting a war with 20 year old tactics. We should have officers out on regular patrols on dirt bikes.”
MENTAL HEALTH CUTS: Nearly 4,000 people have now signed a petition calling for a rethink on cuts to community mental services in the Capital. A formal meeting to decide on proposed funding cuts - which third sector organisations have warned would “dismantle” community mental health services in the city - has been pushed back to the meeting of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, which oversees health and social care services, on 26 August .
KIRK ‘AT TIPPING POINT’: The idea of Kirk ministers enjoying tenure for life may be over due to the growing financial crisis in the Church of Scotland. Ending the assumption is one of a series of proposals set out in the annual report of the Kirk Assembly Trustees, which warns that the Church is “at a tipping point in terms of its financial viability”.
STUDENT FLATS FOR HOMELESS: A student housing block is set to be turned into temporary accommodation for the homeless. The city council is in talks to buy the 72-bed ELS House at 555 Gorgie Road and has submitted a planning application for change of use.
ROAD INJURY: A seven-year-old boy has been seriously injured after being hit by the driver of a blue Land Rover Discovery on Ferry Road, shortly after 6.30pm on Friday. The boy has been treated for serious, but non-life threatening, injuries at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and police are appealing for information.
ALL SEWN UP: Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant is to succeed the Great British Bake Off’s Prue Leith as chancellor of Musselburgh's Queen Margaret University. The 53-year-old designer and businessman, who grew up in Morningside, is a critic of fast fashion and a champion of UK textile manufacturing. In his new role, he will preside over graduation ceremonies and act as an ambassador for the university.
Pic of the week
THE BUSINESS
HOMES PLAN: Leading Edinburgh-based housebuilder Miller Homes has secured the purchase of a total of 91 acres of land across several locations across the East of Scotland, bringing 676 much-needed new homes to popular towns and communities.
The homebuilder will now begin work on new developments at East Calder Oaks, East Calder; West Craigs Mews, Edinburgh; Miller Homes at Shawfair, Midlothian; and Avonside Wisp, Whitecross, with new homes coming online between Autumn this year and Spring next year.
SUMMER FLIGHTS: Virgin Atlantic is to extend is current summer seasonal route between Edinburgh and Orlando, Florida, next year by adding an additional twelve rotations – the equivalent of almost 5,000 seats – by operating up to three flights per week from April to the end of October.
TAX CRUISE: Edinburgh city council has expressed strong support for the introduction of a cruise ship levy, suggesting in a formal response to be submitted to a Scottish Government consultation that more than £1million a year could be generated to help manage the impact of the 217,too cruise ship passengers who visit the city each year.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
IN THE MEADOWS: It’s time to dig out that red frock and get dancing. There is of course much more to the Meadows Festival than just the Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever - you can read Ilona Amos’s uplifting piece on this quirkiest of new Edinburgh traditions here - but we’re particularly looking forward to that. Enjoy live music from Tonegarden, the city’s biggest outdoor market and much more on Saturday and Sunday. Oh, and it’s a big birthday for the Festival, as it marks its 50th anniversary this year.
FANTASY FEST: From bringing Terry Pratchett favourites to the stage and the big sci-fi, fantasy and horror quiz to author panels and writing workshops, there is something for the geek in us all at Cymera. Edinburgh’s wonderful festival celebrating science fiction, fantasy and horror writing returns to the Pleasance from Friday to Sunday.
CURRIE AND BEER: When you live in a place with a name remarkably like one of your favourite foods, it’s just too good a chance to waste. The Currie Beer and Curry Festival returns to Currie Community Centre on Friday and Saturday. Organisers the Currie Balerno and District Round Table point out there will be cider and wine available too.
QUICK BITES
SUCCESS AL FRESCO: Royal Mile restaurant Angels with Bagpipes has been named among the UK’s top 100 restaurants for outdoor summer dining by online booking platform OpenTable.
DROP-PING IN: Burger Drop, which operates a chain of restaurants in the north east of England, has opened its first Scottish outlet at South Clerk Street in the Southside of Edinburgh.