The arts must share the pain

Aug 13 2010 Bill Midgley is a North East business executive, The Journal

I REALISE that being critical in any shape or form of the arts can be seen as sacrilgious, but nevertheless, and speaking as someone with an involvement in that area, this sector of our community has to realise that cuts in government spending have to impact on them as much as elsewhere.

The arts lobby is already highly vociferous in its pleas for immunity and it must be recognised that the lobby is extremely powerful. There are a number of peers in the House of Lords who owe their elevation to their cultural background and have the ability to reach the right ears.

It is perhaps surprising that the other great part of our national culture, sport, has yet to see its first ennoblement, and no, Lord Coe does not qualify on that count as his was a political appointment!

It is difficult to take issue with the fact that for each pound invested in the arts some £4 is injected into the economy as a whole, not a bad return I would agree. But that has to be set against the need for investment in other areas and as we move into the autumn round of the spending review, there is little doubt that the creation of employment and business support will need to have its own lobby to ensure that any damage inflicted upon it is not too great.

It almost seems a given now that there will be rising unemployment as cuts in the economy feed through over the next 12 months and with the real possibility of inflation increasing even further from the current position which is well above the Bank of England's expectations, and fuel and commodity prices also facing large increases, business faces difficult times.

It is surely more important that in the short term we have a stable and expanding economy and that it is from that, that the broader aspects of life can be supported. The arts in particular should be supported from the creation of wealth not by taking much needed investment from industry or indeed from other areas.

Perhaps it can make a start by looking at some of its excessive expenditure, high salaries way beyond the comprehension of most of us, and obscene sums paid for paintings, sculptures and the like and generally living within its means.

Individuals can spend their money as they wish, but the arts community needs to recognise that they do not have the first claim on the tax payers funds which will be needed to be directed in the short term into much needier and more deserving areas.

I have no doubt that the lobby will raise its game but there are wider priorities and business must get the support it needs to prosper.

Bill Midgley is a North East business executive