Earn cash or else

Yet this ignores, of course, the central conundrum about arts in a free market. If it is to make money, it must prove itself popular, even though much of the finest music, theatre and fine art is, almost by definition, a minority interest.

With its need to generate money, the Government is never going to square this circle. This is why the arts world should be as wary of accepting Government funding as it is of accepting Government instructions.

Clearly, some state support is necessary. But a vibrant future for the arts depends on their attracting alternative sources of funding. And the very fact that, even at a time of austerity, the British arts scene is one of the most inventive and dynamic in the world, shows that it is doing so.