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Arts and fashion need to see the colour of the PM's money
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent12.02.08
Culture is what Britain does well. And if the Government has finally bought that argument, the plans revealed today are cause for celebration.
For years film-lovers have longed for a state-of-the-art movie centre on the South Bank. The fashionistas have argued for a permanent home for London Fashion Week to boost Britain's standing in the style stakes.
If the Prime Minister is throwing his weight behind such ideas, then that is fantastic.
The issue is whether he is going to put his money where his mouth is.
The British Film Institute film centre plans, for instance, are impossible without a government cash injection similar to the £50 million Tate Modern received for its development plans. Money aside, there are obviously some quibbles with the plans as leaked.
For example, how exactly can a government "protect" live music venues? And if culture is now an accepted good, then shouldn't all children get five hours a week, not just the disadvantaged?
Yet there is no disgrace in trying to capitalise on Britain's thriving arts.
Noel Gallagher - and the rest of the population - may have fallen out of love with Tony Blair but it was always strange that the notion of Cool Britannia should have died with the end of the affair.
Other countries took notice and they are now using culture to transform their reputations and as an engine for economic growth.
An expert from the Victoria and Albert is advising the French government on how to implement free museum admission, which was a flagship Labour policy.
And in the wake of his success with a giant sun in Tate Modern, artist Olafur Eliasson has been commissioned to produce an equally spectacular work for New York.
To be frank, it would be stupid if the British Government did not want to build on the investment of the last decade. We look forward to seeing whether the Green Paper plans are the way to do it.
