The government is deaf to the plight of freelance musicians and other creatives
On Monday, a number of British arts organisations finally heard whether they had received grants from the £1.57bn bailout fund announced in July by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak. Not a moment too soon, institutions such as Wigmore Hall in London, Bristol Old Vic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra have been given a cash buffer that should keep them alive until March.
The welcome announcement has been marred, though, by the failure of the government to address the question of freelancers and self-employed people in the arts. In an interview with ITV last week, Mr Sunak was asked what he thought professional musicians ought to do, given that they can’t earn enough to live. He answered that up to 3 million people in the country qualified for help under the self-employed support scheme. Pressed on whether musicians ought to find different work, he mentioned retraining schemes that are “providing new and fresh opportunity”. People must adapt, he said. He added that it was untrue that there was no work for musicians. Music lessons, in his own household at least, were still going on.
