14/03/2011

Some of the biggest names in the British entertainment industry have joined hands to protest the ruling Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition’s decision to make cuts across the board in the arts sector.

Mike Leigh, Helen Mirren, Kenneth Branagh and Jeremy Irons are amongst 46 luminaries who published a letter in a Sunday newspaper that said, “Before the last election the government promised to usher in a ‘golden age’ for the arts. The reality couldn’t be further from this. With the reductions announced in last year’s Spending Review, the withdrawal of huge amounts of local authority support, the abolition of the UK Film Council and the financial pressures faced by the Arts Councils and the BBC, we are currently facing the biggest threat to funding the arts and culture have experienced in decades.

“These cuts are deep and will affect not just those working and training in regional theatre, independent arts, the BBC, UK film, festivals, dance or theatre in education, but also those who access the arts through outreach and education programmes, community and youth groups and social care.

“Nationally, the return from cultural investment is staggering. The performing arts and the film industry contribute more than £7bn to the economy each year. If we are serious about rebuilding our economy, culture should not be an easy target for cuts.”

In response, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said, “At a national level the actual net cut in arts funding is only 11% and that is a lot better than, for example, the police, or the Foreign Office, or many other areas. So we are doing everything we can, precisely because we understand the economic importance of the arts and what they do for our national way of life.”