Campaign for the Arts, which lobbied against the original decision to cut £6.6m from Creative Scotland’s budget, said it is relaunching a campaign to protect arts funding in Scotland.

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.” A new petition has been launched today (28 September) calling on the Scottish government to keep its promise.