Scots, what the hey?

I'm often asked by Americans, 'do they hate us?' They meaning people in Britain. Americans, are often perceived as myopic and self-centred, not caring about the world outside of the 50 states. This is probably true, but like a lot of self-centred people, they care acutely what other people think of them.

The short answer to the question is probably 'yes', but I tend to say now, 'not as much as they hate themselves.'

I thought of this as I've been watching the blood feud that's currently engulfing Scottish publishing. Publishing in general is like a small town - amiable enough, people helping each other out, but if you fall out with the neighbours, it can get really nasty. In Scotland's very small, Edinburgh-centric book business, this is even more the case.

Briefly, the Scottish Arts Council has stripped many Scottish publishers of funding, yet has given a rise to Publishing Scotland the non-profit trade body. This has infuriated Hugh Andrew, head of Birlinn, Scotland's largest publisher. He's left his post on Publishing Scotland and went on a tirade against PS in the Scotsman.

I like Hugh. He's irascible, prickly, a bit of cock, to be honest. But he's intelligent, speaks his mind when many people in the business are too damn careful and has good business nous. His comments aren't surprising; he's not liked the leadership at PS for some time and has railed against them more then one occasion. PS for their part, have done good work - yet I can see Hugh's point that money should go to front line services. But you also need a voice of the whole industry.

I suspect the feud will trundle on for a while - as a publishing journalist this does, I'm afraid, please me greatly. But it's also a shame and something that does no one in Scottish publishing much good. Yet these small town feuds can take a long time to end.