Calls to investigate Sturgeon publisher

POLICE have been urged to investigate after a publisher that released a collection of Nicola Sturgeon’s speeches was handed £295,000 of public funds.

Sandstone Press is run by an SNP supporter and hailed the First Minister as a “significant world leader” when it released the collection earlier this year. It has been accused by Keith Charters, managing director of Strident Publishing, of falsifying documents.

Sandstone released the collection days after the Holyrood election in May and promoted it in the run-up to it. It denies any wrongdoing. The firm has received more than £400,000 in grants from Creative Scotland, the SNP government’s arts quango, over the past 15 years. Police are investigating £120,000 of grants awarded last year and £175,000 loaned by the public agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

Mr Charters alleged that the publisher made false statements about the number of people it employs and its location to increase its chance of gaining funding. HIE is also alleged to have wrongly recorded its location to boost its eligibility for financial support.

A spokesman for Sandstone Press said it had not been contacted by police. “We’ve been disappointed to see misleading information about Sandstone Press and Women Hold Up Half the Sky in the press and online,” she added.

“Women Hold Up Half The Sky is published and financed independently of any public body. Sandstone Press has received no funding for this book. Similar to many Scottish businesses, Sandstone Press has received support from HIE … in relation to business resilience and not any project or publication.”