Labour MP Dawn Butler pulls out of Hay Festival amid Baillie Gifford controversy

Dawn Butler has withdrawn from this year’s Hay Festival over accusations that its sponsor Baillie Gifford profits from “Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide”, a claim Baillie Gifford has called “seriously misleading”.

The Labour MP, who had been scheduled to speak about her book A Purposeful Life (Torva), announced on X that she would not be attending after discovering Baillie Gifford’s ties to Israel via Fossil Free Books’ (FFB) recent statement.

FFB’s statement, released last week, called on Baillie Gifford to “divest from the fossil fuel industry and from companies that profit from Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide”. Last year, more than 150 authors and book workers signed statements calling on Edinburgh International Book Festival to cut ties with the controversial sponsor unless it divests from fossil fuels. FFB’s full statement can be read here. 

In her statement, Butler said: “I have been shocked and disgusted by events in Gaza. With over 35,000 Palestinians now killed by the IDF – a majority of them women and children – and with Gaza on the brink of man-made famine, I cannot in good conscience participate in this festival. I repeat my call for an immediate ceasefire on both sides. The thing about principles is they mean nothing unless you are prepared to sacrifice something.”

On X, Booker 2023 shortlisted-author, Sarah Bernstein, said: “I support Dawn Butler’s principled decision to withdraw from Hay as a legitimate form of protest designed to draw attention to Baillie Gifford’s interests in fossil fuel and Israeli cybersecurity firms. I also support her call for Baillie Gifford to divest from these companies.”

In response, Baillie Gifford has said the “suggestion that it is a large investor in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is seriously misleading”. 

The organisation continued that due being a “private business, managing other people’s money, not our own”, “our clients set the parameters and determine what to exclude or divest.” As such, it says, “we are not able to make exclusions of that nature based on our own ethical judgements, or in response to pressure from outside groups. Our fiduciary duty to the people or organisations who control the money we manage, is always our overriding priority. Therefore, in asking for divestment the activists are requesting that we breach our duty to our clients.” The statement also adds: “We are not a significant fossil fuel investor” and states that only 2% of its clients’ money is invested with businesses related to fossil fuels.

In a statement shared with the Telegraph, Hay Festival global chief executive Julie Finch said: “We have requested additional information from Baillie Gifford and continue to work to safeguard our events as free and respectful platforms for exchanging ideas. We remain committed to reaching the widest possible audiences through our work and presenting one of a kind events in the heart of the Welsh countryside next week.”