ME, Z-LIST? HOW VERY FLATTERING!
McCall Smith hits back in row over Named Person
ONE of Scotland’s top authors has hit back after being dismissed as a ‘Z-lister’ by organisers of the SNP’s ‘state snooper’ scheme.
Alexander McCall Smith was singled out as a critic of the initiative at a Scottish Government meeting, after one of his characters condemned it.
But last night the attack backfired – by provoking Mr McCall Smith’s intervention into the political row as he voiced his own concern about Named Person.
Minutes of a Scottish Government meeting on the scheme which came to light earlier this week show officials wanted to tackle the PR disaster surrounding the policy.
Among the more bizarre entries was a proposal to recruit JK Rowling as a champion for the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) policy, which underpins Named Person, in order to ‘countermine [sic] the likes of Alexander McCall Smith’ and other unnamed ‘Z-listers’.
The reference is likely to have been prompted by a newspaper serialisation of Mr McCall Smith’s latest 44 Scotland Street book, in which a character criticised the Named Person legislation as an intrusion into family life.
Last night, Mr McCall Smith, 70, author of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, who recently praised Nicola Sturgeon for her love of literature, told the Mail: ‘Many people have considerable misgivings about the [Named Person] scheme, and these misgivings need to be addressed.
‘I’m flattered to be described as a Z-lister – which sounds rather intriguing – and I very much look forward to invitations to Z-list parties.’
The Named Person experts met to discuss how to publicise the scheme more effectively, and voiced concern that the backlash against it was being fuelled by critics such as Mr McCall Smith.
Dismissing Mr McCall Smith, members of a stakeholder group suggested approaching a ‘high-profile person’ such as Miss Rowling to hit back at the criticism.
Freedom of information responses obtained by Named Person critic Alison Preuss contain minutes of a summit at the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh HQ last year.
Records of a GIRFEC ‘Engagement on Information Sharing Meeting’ – involving Scottish Government and council officials – say: ‘High profile person/celebrity to publicise GIRFEC, Get JK Rowling on board, countermine the likes of Alexander McCall Smith – Z-listers.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘This comment was not made by the Scottish Government – nor does it in any way reflect our views.’