Jeremy Hunt (Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport) writing in the Huffington Post:
As the inspirational Michael Kaiser wrote, UK arts organisations have traditionally had "a reticence to talk about money, let alone ask for it."
No he didn't. What he said was:
The English reticence to talk about money, let alone ask for it, is beginning to evaporate.
He also said:
At the invitation of England's Minister of Culture, Ed Vaizey, I recently visited that country for a teaching tour of six cities. As part of its austerity measures, the English government has recently had to cut its funding to the arts very substantially; most organizations have seen their subsidies reduced and others have had their grants eliminated altogether.
The six cities that Michael Kaiser visited were Newcastle/Gateshead, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol, all English. And Kaiser closed his article by saying "Times are challenging for the arts in England but coordinated efforts are being made to build a better future."
Michael Kaiser wrote an article specifically about England and the Government's cuts to Arts funding in England. Not Scotland. Not Wales. Not Northern Ireland. Jeremy Hunt may not like the fact that Michael Kaiser refers to 'England's Minister of Culture' and 'the English government' but that's no reason to misquote him. Besides which, as far as the Arts are concerned, the UK Government - having devolved responsibility for the Arts - is the English government; and Ed Vaisey is, to all intents and purposes, England's Minister of Culture.
Perhaps Jeremy Hunt should take a look at his own departmental website:
DCMS provides funding for the arts in England, sets arts policy and supports arts based initiatives, often in partnership with other government departments.
DCMS funding is distributed through Arts Council England, the development agency for the arts in England. Arts Council England make all funding decisions at ‘arm’s length’ (independent of, following guidance criteria) from Government.
