Blair attempts to dispel threat of arts funding cuts

Published Tuesday 6 March 2007 at 14:40 by Alistair Smith

Tony Blair has moved to play down fears that the Treasury’s forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review and the 2012 Olympics will mean substantial funding cuts for the arts.

In a speech at the Tate Modern this week, Blair claimed that cultural organisations had enjoyed a “renaissance” over the past ten years and the government had no intention of allowing that achievement to slip away. While acknowledging that there was some trepidation in the arts world over the upcoming spending round, he insisted that the arts were still a priority and re-iterated his support for the principal of arms-length funding.

“I understand the concerns over the comprehensive spending review and the claim on resources made by the Olympics,” he said. “In so far as I can, in advance of decisions yet to be made, let me lay them to rest. First, we need to remember that the Cultural Olympiad offers a fabulous opportunity. We have on the horizon a four-year festival at which we can exhibit a modern, outward-facing Britain. The Olympic victory was a vindication of the cultural face we now present to the world. One of the main reasons we won is that we projected an idea of what Britain is now and what we will become in the future.

“In respect of both the Olympics and the CSR, there is a process in place to come to decisions,” added Blair. “For obvious reasons the conclusions can’t be announced now. But I can say this - all of us in government take great pride in what has been achieved this past decade. We have avoided boom and bust in the economy. We don’t intend to resume it in arts and culture.”

Blair also claimed that had it not been for Labour’s policies, the arts world would have seen the closure of “many of the country’s finest regional theatres” and orchestras and that organisations such as the National Theatre would not have enjoyed the success they have.

However, shadow culture secretary Hugo Swire hit back at Blair’s claims, saying the speech “smacked of desperation”. He added: “Tony Blair is clearly scrabbling around for a positive epitaph for his time in Downing Street but he is mistaken if he thinks that his record on the arts will be it.

“It is not enough for him to cite government spending when it has been his government that has robbed the arts and heritage of hundreds of millions of pounds every year by raiding the National Lottery. At the same time, Tony Blair’s record for the arts has been one of relentless targets and red tape, the exact opposite of what is conducive to artistic success.”