January 9, 2016 – 12:57 PM
Mark Brown’s article in the Guardian on the 4th January 2016, “Stage set for drama as ENO faces the financial music” demonstrates in graphic detail the problem with the Arts Council and arts funding; a lack of an explicit art form policy that holds the Arts Council to account for its funding decisions. Before […]
January 9, 2016 – 12:48 PM
On the 24th December 2015 there was an article by Simon Jenkins on London’s ability to drain resources from the rest of the UK. Simon Jenkins highlighted the problem of a metropolitan mafia and celebrities with vanity projects that drain scarce resources from the regions and underfunded art forms such as jazz and folk. London […]
December 31, 2015 – 11:17 AM
More news in The Guardian on the proposed £278 million concert hall for London (17.12.16). This a prima facie case of the metropolitan cultural mafia at work. The problem with the arts in England is there is no concrete policy for the arts that distributes public funding in an equitable, structured way. Not a squeak […]
November 28, 2015 – 12:56 AM
There was an article in The Guardian, “No kites, no music, no politics on our garden bridge – we’ll be watching you” on Saturday 7th November 2015 concerning the proposed garden bridge over the Thames. The garden bridge, a vanity project, where private benefit would appear to far outweigh any public benefit, coupled with no […]
October 22, 2015 – 12:39 PM
On Saturday 17th October 2015 there was a leader article on the UK steel industry, “Where’s the entrepreneurial state when it’s really needed”, For years Governments of every political stripe have ignored the deindustrialisation of the UK and held themselves in thrall to the city and the service sector. In 2010 the Coalition announced it […]
October 10, 2015 – 8:10 PM
The current BBC charter is set to expire at the end of 2016 and the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) is carrying out a fundamental review of the BBC. To assist this review the DCMS has published BBC Charter Review – Public Consultation. The BBC has responded with the first in a series […]
August 30, 2015 – 11:59 AM
There was an excellent article “Corbyn wins economist’s backing for radical plan” by Daniel Boffey in the Observer on 23rd August 2015. In 2010 and 2015 Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband did not have the nous to stay and plan an orderly succession. If the management of the Labour Party thinks the current leadership election […]
August 21, 2015 – 8:20 PM
Both Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband resigned as party leaders immediately after losing the last two general elections and the Labour Party rushed into leadership elections in 2010 and 2015. In 2010 the election was so rushed the nominations deadline was extended to 9 June after complaints from John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, and Ed Miliband […]
August 13, 2015 – 8:52 PM
Alan Johnson sounded off in The Guardian on the 5th August 2015. “Johnson: end madness and elect Cooper” by Nicholas Watt. The problem is the Labour leadership candidates have failed spectacularly to position themselves in the minds of Labour Party members. The exception is Corbyn who has positioned himself in the minds of those Labour Party members who cannot do […]
August 13, 2015 – 8:46 PM
In The Guardian on the 10th August an article by Frances Perraudin “Marauding migrants threaten our standard of living”. Philip Hammond’s inflammatory and gratuitous language along with that of the Prime Minister’s injudicious use of the word swarm. Couple this with the flaccid response from the Labour, we are left with a hugh question mark over […]