A lost decade in culture

All governments accuse their predecessors, if they hail from another party, of leaving them a bad inheritance. The only variable to this golden rule of politics is the extent of the vehemence and the extent of the truth of the claims.

In the UK, Labour has been at it almost daily since it took power last month; the Tories did just the same in 2010 at the start of their torrid 14 years in charge.

Detailed performance audits help to cut through the rhetoric. I was delighted when Anthony Seldon, historian and indefatigable Renaissance Man, asked me at the end of last year to contribute a chapter on culture to an anthology he was editing, called The Conservative Effect.

‘A stunning missed opportunity’

I was asked to write it in part by dint of my time establishing and chairing Turner Contemporary in Margate in the late noughties but mostly due to my founding of the Creative Industries Federation in 2014 whose remit was to inject some muscle into lobbying for a creative sector that has struggled to get its voice heard – even though it is one of the most successful sectors of the British economy.

In the chapter I wrote: The fishing industry contributes barely £1bn to the British economy… roughly equivalent in size to visual effects, a sub-category of a category of the creative industries.

Conservative ministers made repeated visits to the nation’s ports to extol the virtues of an almost moribund trade. By contrast, a sector that has been the fastest growing for two decades, that contributes more than £120bn, that in other countries would be seen as an essential component of the good society, was largely seen as an afterthought.

The 14 years of Tory rule constitute a stunning missed opportunity to seize on one of Britain’s few internationally renowned assets – its creativity.

Very few positives

I then ran through the range of policy interventions, or non-interventions – from the size of the public culture budget to promotion of the commercial creative industries, to the health (or otherwise) of institutions in the regions, to arts education.

I lauded the tax credit system introduced by George Osborne early in the coalition years, swift and generous emergency support during the pandemic and one or two other initiatives. In terms of positives, however, that was pretty much that.

In 2010, shortly before the start of the Conservative era, Jeremy Hunt (the Culture Secretary to be), promised a “golden age for the arts”. A “US-style culture of philanthropy” would take the strain from the public purse, releasing new cash and a new era of entrepreneurialism.

None of this happened, except the cuts – a staggering 21% cut in real terms, while 30% was removed from local authority budgets. Arts Council England was reduced in size and told not to make political interventions. Its grant constitutes less than 0.05% of total government spending. Or rather, a rounding up exercise on the average overspend on a single aircraft carrier.

Europe leads the way, culturally

The difference from our European counterparts is staggering. In Germany – a country that obsesses about balancing the books – the culture budget has increased by 70% over the past decade. There is hardly a small- or medium-sized town that doesn’t have a flourishing theatre, and/or concert hall and/or art gallery.

During Covid, cultural workers were included among the list of priority workers. Imagine… Many French towns and villages have proudly held their own arts festivals for years.

France has led the way with a Culture Pass for students reaching the age of 18. Spain has done the same, providing even more, €400 to each young person to spend on any art form.

Money is necessary, vital even, but it is also insufficient when assessing a country’s approach to culture. It is also about art’s place in society, as I continued in my chapter.

Number of culture secretaries invites ridicule

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is rarely seen as a destination of choice. Apart from Chris Smith in the early Blair years, few have left their mark.

Under the Tories, 12 culture secretaries in 14 years invites ridicule. None emerges well. Hunt, the first, offered up even greater cuts than the chancellor George Osborne could stomach.

He was followed by Maria Miller, who could not name anything she had seen at the British Museum beyond the mummies. Sajid Javid had little time for the “luvvies”. Karen Bradley: who was she?

John Whittingdale was driven by loathing of the BBC. Matt Hancock will be remembered for his private life though, paradoxically, he was one of the better incumbents, advocating strongly for the digital and music briefs.

Only in the UK is the sector required to justify its existence

When I was researching my book Why the Germans Do It Better, one of the anecdotes that resonated most with me was this: David Cameron was visiting Angela Merkel at her residence north of Berlin in April 2013.

On the Saturday evening, she invited a group of cultural and political figures with links to both countries. To break the ice, she talked about operas, theatres and museums she had visited. Even as chancellor, she would phone gallery directors on her mobile to request that she sneak into a particular exhibition. She asked Cameron what he had seen. He stuttered and said he liked watching TV, adding that he would have loved to go to concerts but feared being hounded by the press.

Only in the UK would a sector which delivers so much to so many be constantly required to justify its existence.

There’s lots more to say – not least the damage wrought by Brexit to Britain’s global and cultural reputation. Returning to the book, I smiled when Anthony Seldon told me its subtitle: 14 Wasted Years? My only question was: why the question mark?

John Kampfner is an author and broadcaster.
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