Scottish Borders Book Festival 2020

That the Parliament recognises that the Scottish Borders Book Festival 2020 is moving to an online format; understands that a series of 12 talks has been organised to stream online every Sunday from 12 July and will include pre-recorded sessions with returning favourites, James Naughtie and Rory Bremner, as well as new faces, such as the Borderer, Suzanne Mulholland, who achieved internet fame as The Batch Lady for her batch cooking YouTube videos; notes that each pre-recorded talk will be followed by a Q&A session with the author, which will allow the usual festival interaction to take place; considers that streaming the festival online will help to broaden access to people who live far away or who could not otherwise attend and will help to promote the Borders to a wider audience, and welcomes the Chancellor's UK-wide £1.57 billion arts and culture support package, which, it believes, will help to sustain community venues, arts projects and cultural events throughout the COVID-19 crisis.