Millions promised for ‘Festival of Brexit’ should be diverted to save arts events threatened by coronavirus, industry urges

Exclusive: Reallocation of £120m funding forms part of Lib Dem scheme to help creative industries survive crisis

The creative industries contributed more than £110bn to the UK's economy last year (Getty)

The £120m of taxpayers’ money promised by the government for a “Festival of Brexit” in 2022 should be diverted to save long-standing and much-loved arts events whose future is threatened by the coronavirus pandemic, the body representing Britain’s festival sector has said.

Reallocating the funds away from the Brexit festival is a key plank of a programme to reinvigorate the creative sector launched today by the Liberal Democrats, whose culture spokesperson, Daisy Cooper, warned of a “cultural catastrophe” unless the government provides more help.

Originally proposed by Jacob Rees-Mogg as a celebration of leaving the EU, the event was renamed the Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by Theresa May in 2018 and Boris Johnson confirmed in December that it would go ahead in 2022 backed by £120m of taxpayers’ money.

But the director of the British Arts Festivals Association (BAFA), Fiona Goh, said the money would be better spent sustaining the existing network of cultural experiences across the country, most of which have been cancelled this year because of the coronavirus lockdown, with many feared never to return. Alongside major events such as Glastonbury and Reading that attract hundreds of thousands of music lovers, hundreds of smaller celebrations of music, literature, theatre and dance were unable to go ahead.

Ms Goh said reallocating the cash would “acknowledge the strength and creativity of the existing nationwide festival infrastructure”, which has the proven ability do “truly extraordinary things in all corners of the country” with the money currently earmarked for an untested event.

The Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was billed as a showcase for “the UK’s unique strengths in creativity and innovation”, but arts figures have warned it may prove divisive, while a report warned that its timing on the centenary year of the partition of Ireland may prove controversial.

Ms Cooper said the money would be better diverted to existing cultural events, as part of her plan to offer support to the creative industries, which employed 2 million people and made an annual contribution to the economy of more than £110bn last year, but now risks emerging depleted from the Covid-19 crisis.

A £1.57bn emergency coronavirus package provided by the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, earlier this month has done nothing for thousands of small businesses and freelancers within the arts industry who have been excluded from support, she said.

Daisy Cooper, culture spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats

“The UK’s creative industries went into the Covid-19 pandemic as world leaders, but without the necessary recovery support, they will emerge smaller, weaker and with lasting damage,” said Ms Cooper.

“But with so much continuing uncertainty, the government must step in to prevent a cultural catastrophe and protect people’s livelihoods from the twin threats of Covid and Brexit.

“The government’s support package was welcome, but the details remain unclear and still nothing has been done to help support the thousands of small businesses and freelancers who have been left penniless.”

The Lib Dem “agenda for immediate survival, recovery and renewal” for the creative industries includes:

• Inclusion of creative workers in government support schemes;
• Reallocation of funds for the Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to existing festivals and events;
• Unconditional reset grants to help existing micro-businesses in the sector get going again;
• Reform of the apprenticeship scheme and levy to keep the £55m paid by the sector within the sector;
• The targeting of new training and vocational courses to areas suffering significant redundancies;
• Retention of “gold standard” intellectual property and data protections, currently guaranteed under EU laws. 

Ms Cooper urged Mr Dowden to take the Lib Dem proposals on board, saying: “There is still a lot of work for him to do if the creative industries are to survive and thrive.”

And Ms Goh said: “The UK is now home to a thriving arts festivals sector which reaches an estimated 4.9 million people across the breadth of the country: the unprecedented circumstances of the last six months may see many of these cherished local events disappear forever.

“BAFA believes that the government should ensure that the £120m it pledged for the 2022 Festival of Britain and Northern Ireland sustains the existing festivals sector, rather than focusing on the creation of a new event.

“This would acknowledge the strength and creativity of the existing nationwide festival infrastructure. The UK’s festivals could do truly extraordinary things in all corners of the country with such a cash boost. Arts festivals are a vital fabric in our cultural ecology; they support artists at all stages of their careers, the creation of new work, community cohesion and participation, as well as driving local visitor economies.

“Festivals are place-makers, bringing moments of extraordinary cultural experience to villages and towns that might otherwise go without. Now is the time to invest in our communities and those who enrich them.”

The acting chief executive of UK Music, Tom Kiehl, said it was vital to ensure that Britain remains open to international talent after Brexit, as venues closed by the pandemic open their doors.

“The music industry is worth £5.2bn to the economy and to maintain this it’s crucial we ensure copyright is respected and protected after Brexit,” said Mr Kiehl.

“The UK must also remain open to international talent. If we erect barriers at home, we are vulnerable to retaliation that will cause damage to the export potential of musicians and songwriters across the UK.”