The Stage

Petition against ACE’s spending announcements gathers 800 signatures

Published Friday 11 January 2008 at 16:40 by Lalayn Baluch

Almost 800 people have signed a petition on the prime minister’s website to demonstrate lack of confidence in Arts Council England, following the organisation’s recent spending announcements.

The petition urging industry members to show support against ACE was launched by Stop the Cull, a group which began on social networking site Facebook and has 1,224 members.

Actor Kate Lush of Stop the Cull said: “Across the country there is uproar in the arts community. Arts organisations, industry professionals and members of the public are taking action against the arts council, appealing against these ill conceived plans. We launched this petition, on the government’s website, to give a collective voice to those people in order that they can demonstrate a lack of faith in the arts council in its current form.

“We believe the decisions taken and the methodology used to decide these cuts are fatally flawed and we urge anyone who agrees to log-on and sign the petition. It takes just a minute of your time and the more people that sign it, the louder the message we send to the government that this industry, and its audiences, are unhappy with the way the arts council is operating and are not prepared to accept it.”