Arts rescue package recipients shouldn’t be forced to spout government propaganda

The government has finally begun to distribute funding to some theatres and arts organisations, chunks of the 1.57 billion it promised in July. There is a catch though, it turns out that each recipient of the life-saving dosh must agree to promote the governments "Here for Culture" campaign on their social media platforms. 

In papers seen by The Independent, it’s specified that beneficiaries must use the hashtag #hereforculture along with the government's logo. This reminds me of when I was on Question Time with Jeremy Hunt. Like an excited schoolboy who has just done the most massive poo and, inexplicably, was dying to show his friends, Hunt announced his idea of stamping prescriptions given for free to those eligible with “Paid for by the UK taxpayer”.

My feeling was that the pensioner grabbing their pile-cream or the heart patient receiving their angina tablets, did not need gratitude hammered into them for receiving something they are entitled to. I asked Mr Hunt on the program if he was going to make the Queen stamp this on her hats. I got no reply from him, but a few folks on Twitter did offer to buy me a “one ticket back to Iran” if I had a problem with paying for the Queen. I actually don’t, it surprises some, but I’m not a republican. 

That said, when I was invited to a tea party in the palace gardens, I ended up turning tail and going to the pub instead. I was dismayed to see the coach loads of people queuing to get in who also had an invite. I honestly thought it was going to be a barbeque with Prince Philip making banana fritters and I could natter to the Queen about dogs,  but there were masses of people there. It was like queuing for a nightclub in the 90s. I decided my need for a pint was greater than my need to see the Queens rose bushes.

My point is, rubbing people’s noses in the fact that they receive public funds is a nasty thing for a government to do. It is their job to distribute our taxes fairly. The money to art establishments is not a benevolent scattering of largess, it’s a duty they are fulfilling to a vital, lucrative industry, which was hideously disregarded for a long time during lockdown. People had to shout long and loud about it for them to eventually pay heed.

Call me a bleeding heart, leftie snowflake, but I feel sorry for Rishi Sunak. My politics are on the different side of the spectrum but right now, anyone, from any party, in his shoes would be having the mother of all bad days at work pretty much every day. Sunak has the added impediment of having a boss who in every appearance seems to be gazing off into the distance wondering what’s for tea.

Now is not the time for government PR exercises. All of the organisations receiving money were already “Here for Culture,” long before the government. Many others have been horribly overlooked.

The Frog and Bucket comedy club in Manchester, for example, was not considered “culturally significant” enough to save. This decision was a shot in the heart to us lot who work in and love stand-up comedy. 

The Frog and Bucket is one of those comedy clubs which every aspiring stand-up sought to “conquer”. It helped nurture many northern comedians we love, from Caroline Ahern and Peter Kay to John Bishop and Sarah Millican. Few people have any idea how much it takes to build a comedy club of this standard. 

The audiences of these established clubs are, what we call in the trade, “comedy savvy”. Their bar is sky high due to the comedy eye and commitment of the promotors and the talent of those they book. They are not just buildings, they are building blocks for further stand-ups to learn to climb. This one has been kicked down.

Perhaps The Frog didn’t have the social media reach the government was looking for. Perhaps they knew that to expect clubs like The Frog to publically curtesy and say “Thank you Mister Johnson” and slap on the HM Government emblem on its homepage would not be in keeping with the punk spirit of stand-up comedy that still lives in such established clubs.

I have no interest in bashing Tories for the sake of it. Not right now anyway. All I want is for our country to be back on his feet and be rid of the ghastly position this gangster of a virus has put us all in. 

Again, anyone in Sunaks position would be struggling to keep us afloat, I want him to do well. It would be marvellous if this government felt the same way, actually believed we were “in this together” rather than twisting the arms of theatres behind their backs, pining them to wall and hissing “say I’m brilliant, say it. Say you love me SAY IT!”

I hope against hope that the government will look again at the Frog and Bucket and save this massively significant cultural treasure from extinction.