Rupert Christiansen

Why the Arts Council should kill off ENO and ENB

If funding was cut, both would have to radically rethink their function and structure. The result would lead to a rebirth

English National Ballet perform Swan Lake in 2015. Credit: Ian Gavan/Getty Images 
issue 24 September 2022

Pity Arts Council England, least loved of our NGOs, understaffed and under-resourced, its arm’s-length status gnawed to the shoulder by DCMS ukases, the stinginess of the Treasury and the government’s (in some respects, welcome) indifference to our higher culture.

In return for its annual grant-in-aid (currently £336 million), it is obliged to cheer-lead policies of inclusivity and diversity and step gingerly over the eggshells of elitism, racism, gender politics and decolonisation.

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