Norman Lebrecht

Privatisation is the best option for the South Bank Centre

The subsidy guzzler is the despair of the rest of British arts – which does not prevent a totally supine arts media from rushing to defend this glorified food-mall to their last free croissant

The Royal Festival Hall sounds little better than a municipal baths (© Graham Salter / Bridgeman Images)
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I must have written about this subject 100 times in 30 years and I’m still having to restate the bloody obvious. London’s South Bank Centre, which has just gone bleating to the government for more money, is the biggest subsidy guzzler in the country and the despair of the rest of British arts.

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