From some recent reporting, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the performing arts in the North of England are not under attack. But far from being a key plank of a robust ‘levelling up’ agenda, the recent announcement of cuts to Arts Council England (ACE) regular funding heralded disaster for cultural institutions across the UK, particularly those outside of London.In fact, of the organisations that are facing a devastating 100 per cent loss of ACE funding, 70 per cent of those are outside of London. When even organisations who aren’t facing cuts, like Leeds’s Eclipse theatre company, are describing the doubling of their award as ‘bittersweet’, and warning of the impact on friends, colleagues, and communities, you’d think politicians from all Parties would pause for thought before buying into ‘levelling-up’ propaganda. Because the truth is that ‘levelling-up’ is the lipstick on the pig of austerity, and it is the audiences and workers in Yorkshire who will suffer.
