'Extraordinary betrayal': £6.6m Creative Scotland cut reinstated by government

The Stage

28 Sep 2023

Article
by Fergus Morgan

In December 2022, the Scottish government announced its plan to slash the public body’s funding by 10% in its 2023/24 budget.

In February this year, the Scottish government U-turned on that decision, after more than 15,000 people signed a petition from grassroots organisation Campaign for the Arts that campaigned against it.

Now, however, the Scottish government is reneging on that U-turn and reinstating the funding cut, in a move that has provoked widespread anger.

Jack Gamble, director of Campaign for the Arts, said: “This U-turn on a U-turn is an extraordinary betrayal of Scotland’s cultural sector, all those who campaigned to support it and the Scottish Government’s own commitments to protect it. Scotland’s artists and arts organisations need backing, not broken promises.”