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Investigation into Sandstone Press’ publication of Sturgeon speeches finds ‘no criminality’
An investigation by Police Scotland into how Sandstone Press was handed public funds before the publication of a collection of speeches by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has established “no criminality”.
In 2021, the Scottish Independent press rebuffed claims that it was misusing public funds in publishing the book, titled Women Hold Up Half the Sky, stating it would be "published and financed independently of any public body".
Sandstone, which recently went into voluntary liquidation due to difficult trading conditions and previous attempts to sell the company before climbing book publisher Vertebrate took over management of 230 titles of its list, had been the recipient of more than £400,000 since 2006 in grants from Creative Scotland, a Scottish government body funding the arts. It had also been awarded money by the Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE).
A spokesperson from Sandstone told The Bookseller at the time: "In common with other publishers in Scotland, Sandstone Press is grateful for financial support from Creative Scotland and the enterprise networks. All applications to these bodies, from companies in publishing and across the arts, are carefully scrutinised and awards made within approved guidelines.”
A separate statement agreed with Creative Scotland, HIE and Sandstone, added that collections of speeches in the public domain had a long publishing history, from The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches, to collections by individuals such as Tony Benn and Barack Obama.
It added: "This book is published and financed independently of any public body. Sandstone Press has received no funding for this book. Creative Scotland has supported Sandstone Press to deliver various projects through the Open Project Fund between 2011 and 2019. Women Hold Up Half The Sky is not part of that support. Similar to many Scottish businesses, Sandstone Press has received support from HIE. This is in relation to business resilience and not any project or publication."
A Police Scotland spokesperson has now said: "Information which was passed to police was assessed and no criminality was established." Robert Davidson, former m.d. of Sandstone Press, declined to comment.
