DEAR TORIES, WHAT IS YOUR PLAN FOR THE ARTS?

This open letter to the Conservatives asks whether they have the will and the vision to take an opportunity to reshape British culture by reforming the Arts Council

Jaspreet Singh Boparai

WE WHO CONSIDER OURSELVES “Creatives” — writers, artists, actors, dancers, singers, musicians and so on — tend to loathe the Conservative Party. By temperament, few of us are right-wing. You Tories have always seemed hostile to us. It doesn’t help when so many of you treat our vocations as mere subsidised hobbies. But you still have a chance to win our allegiance: we may loathe you, but we hate and fear the Arts Council, and are looking for someone to protect us from them, since we still need their patronage, for now. Conservatives used to be intelligent patrons of the arts. In the 1930s, you had the most sophisticated cultural operation of any political organisation in a democratic country. Also, thanks to Alexander Korda’s film company, you had soft Tory…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2023

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