It’s rare for a political leader to give a major speech on the arts, as Ed Miliband acknowledged last night at the Battersea Arts Centre. Even more odd for Miliband, you might think, who has not shown much of a cultural hinterland since he became leader of the Labour Party in 2010. His Desert Island Discs choices were mostly predictably political: the South African national anthem and Jerusalem. (We should probably skate over his fondness for Robbie Williams’s Angels.) But last month, when faced with Conservative accusations over Labour’s supposedly profligate spending commitments, the Party tweeted: “Tory dossier says Labour will cancel cuts to the arts budget. We won’t.” The arts fraternity, traditionally left-wing and Labour-supporting, responded angrily and Miliband’s speech, organised by the Creative Industries Federation, was partly an attempt to assuage them.
Speaking with a confidence that rarely comes across on television, Miliband made some concrete policy promises: schools will only be able to get an “outstanding” rating if they offer creative subjects and cultural opportunities; arts institutions will be encouraged to offer government-funded apprenticeships rather than unpaid internships; museums and galleries will remain free to enter; and, if he becomes Prime Minister, Miliband will set up a committee comprised of the great and the good to push his arts agenda across government. With these commitments, he was hoping to impress his audience—which as well as leaders of various arts organisations, included film director Stephen Frears, author Hanif Kureishi and comedian Rory Bremner.
But as Miliband admitted in the question and answer session, he was not promising to reverse arts funding cuts (in 2010 the Arts Council faced a 30 per cent reduction) or even to promise to maintain its current level. The emphasis on education was a clever distraction from brass tacks—something that did not go unnoticed by people in the audience. “Hold my feet to the fire,” Miliband responded, in the face of a sceptical question about how effective his plans would be.
When they talk about the arts, Tories tend to focus on their worth to the exchequer. Labour, by contrast, concentrate on what the arts can do for social justice. “If you believe in a more equal society,” said Miliband, “then access to the arts and culture is not an optional extra, it is essential—not simply because of the worlds it opens up, but because of the wider impact it has.” He also cited the Warwick Report, published last week, which argued that access to the arts is in danger of becoming the preserve of a privileged elite. It was noticeable that when he congratulated Britain’s Oscar-winners at the start of his speech he did not mention the most high-profile of them, best actor winner Eddie Redmayne. Redmayne’s background—Eton, Cambridge—did not suit Miliband’s narrative. He would, I’m sure, prefer to be lauding an under-privileged individual rising to artistic success, with the help of the benevolent state.
The striking dominance of privately educated actors is worrying. But promising to open up arts institutions to everyone is not as easy as it seems. Harriet Harman, Labour’s Deputy Leader, took the microphone briefly to describe the situation in her constituency, Camberwell and Peckham. “I have a load of young people who are fascinated by film and music, who are interested in design and textiles,” she said, “yet in the middle of my constituency I’ve got Camberwell School of Art, where it’s actually not people from the local area [attending].” She seemed to imply that Camberwell should throw its doors open to anyone who wanted to come, regardless of ability. Not only would this be impractical in terms of funding, but it might also affect the School’s ability to maintain quality. High standards are as important as what Harman described as an “entitlement to a creative education.”
Of course you can’t even think of opening up an institution if it’s just been closed down. A report published at the end of last year disclosed that 324 libraries have closed since 2011—a disaster by any standard. Miliband acknowledged that for councils, culture has been an easy target for cuts. What he didn’t pledge is any money to reverse that situation. Rory Bremner’s verdict on Twitter was that Miliband was “Earnest, intense, worthy, sincere.” As he rightly asked, though, “Is it enough?”
Just watched a live Miliband speech. Earnest, intense, worthy, sincere. Is that so bad? And 2) Is it enough? #artsforall
— Rory Bremner (@rorybremner) February 23, 2015
