Ottakar's (Takeover)

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 5:13 pm on 9 November 2005.

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Photo of Mike Pringle Mike Pringle Liberal Democrat 5:13, 9 November 2005

At the heart of the culture of any country are writing and literature, and nowhere is that more true than in Scotland. As Kenny MacAskill mentioned, the monuments to Scott and Burns provide visible reminders of that on the skylines around the Parliament. Indeed, the latter's verse was read at the opening of this institution.

It is ironic, therefore, that the period since the Parliament's establishment has seen the systematic destruction of the primary means by which Scotland's writers and readers interact. Bookshops are at the heart of writers' ability to reach their audience, but the Scottish sector has suffered. Companies such as John Smith and Son and James Thin Booksellers are no longer Scottish-owned. Furthermore, no library supply is now done from Scotland. Hundreds of jobs have been lost, yet the Executive has failed to respond to this massive loss of control in a sector that is crucial to ensuring the continued vitality of Scottish literature.

Although it was unfortunate that James Thin's was bought by Ottakar's, the latter has fortunately continued Thin's traditions of autonomy and of commitment to Scottish books and culture. Ottakar's has a Scottish range marketing manager and Scottish operating managers. By contrast, the outcome of a takeover by HMV/Waterstone's will likely be that a small team in Brentford, somewhere south of the border, will decide what the people of Scotland should read.

Kenny MacAskill refers to Scottish writers. I remember about two years ago attending the saltire awards, where I was seriously impressed by the books that people had written. All of them were Scots. Afterwards I asked one of the book publishers how much money the writers made out of their books. He said that they write for the love of writing and make very little—with the exception of those who win a saltire award. Even they do not make much. Will we say to all those writers that they will no longer get the opportunity to publish their books and to have them stocked in Scottish shops?

The takeover would mean massive centralisation of purchasing. Twenty-six of Scotland's 31 reasonably sized bookshops would be in the hands of one group and there would be a loss of competition, resulting in a monopoly. The New Economics Foundation recently warned of Britain's worsening clone town condition. If the takeover goes ahead, it will ensure that the towns of Scotland take a further major step in that direction.

The Executive argues that this is a reserved matter, because it is a competition issue. However, the fact that the motion was chosen for debate indicates that it is aware that this is also a major cultural issue. Whether or not the Executive has power in the matter, it must surely be able to exert influence. Who will speak up for the protection of Scottish culture and literary diversity, if not the Executive?

The Executive may support Scottish writing and publishers, but that is to no avail if their access to the market is stifled by the imposition of large-scale centralised uniformity on the overwhelming majority of major bookshops. Perhaps the Executive's real attitude is shown by the problems that we are seeing in other areas within its competence. Only a few years ago, the percentage of library budgets spent on books was 20 per cent; now it is 9 per cent. Even returning to the previous inadequate figure would inject £10 million pounds of book purchasing into the Scottish economy. Why is only 2 per cent of the current £8 million book spend—30p per head of the population—spent on Scottish cultural material? Why is the Executive not more active, at a time when Northern Ireland and England are beginning to act on the recommendations and searing critique of Westminster's Culture, Media and Sport Committee? Why is there no clear commercial policy of support for Scottish culture in many of the state-controlled quangos in Scotland that sell books? All of those things are in the Executive's power.

For the reasons that I have outlined, I ask what view the Executive takes of the proposed takeover and whether it will make its views known to the OFT. The Scottish Publishers Association and the writing community in Scotland are utterly opposed to the takeover. The staff of Ottakar's have their own views, but we can imagine what those are. We need the Executive to take a lead on the issue.