Platform – Down but not out

The second round in the recent ding-dong between the arts and government over what the Arts Council of Wales has billed as the creeping politicisation of the arts has been awarded to the arts community. The halting of the Welsh Assembly Governments planned power-grab for the arts (p1) and the clarification of the Religious Hatred Bill (p3) have given New Labour centralisers a bloody nose. However, to overextend the boxing analogy, this is a points victory and by no means a knockout. The Religious Hatred Bill, which was drafted in haste without the requisite scrutiny being given to the full implications of its wording, may be done and dusted but the Welsh debate looks set to rumble on. Indeed, the Conservative leader in the Welsh Assembly has been quoted as saying that the consultation may well result in approval of WAGs original plans.
Undoubtedly this is not the last that the arts community will hear from a Government seemingly desperate to reign in the arts establishment and harness it more firmly to its own agendas. The huge sums of money the arts have received from Government over the past nine years may yet prove to have come at a cost  and it could be that this is where the arts start paying. Themes of access and inclusion will arise again and again  and rightly so  as politicians aim to secure a legacy in our sector. But however laudable these policy objectives may be, making sure they do not overpower artists ability to produce the best work and ensuring that decisions about the arts end up in the hands of those who best understand them will require a fight. The strength of feeling and collective punch the arts community has mustered over the past few weeks has been impressive. With more rounds to come, the sector cannot retire to its corner but needs to keep fighting.

Liz Hill and Brian Whitehead, Co-editors