Demonstrators protest outside the Scottish Parliament over proposed government cuts

The Scotsman

Demonstrators protest outside the Scottish Parliament over proposed government cuts  The protest was called to pressure the government to honor its promise of increasing culture funding by £100 million, ahead of key budget decisions in October.

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Kirsty Miller, I'm Chair of the Equity Scottish National Committee and also on the

00:12Glasgow West of Scotland Branch Committee.

00:14We are once again standing outside Holyrood to protest against art public funding for

00:18the arts.

00:19We were here last year and there was a U-turn, there's been at least five U-turns now on

00:23public sector funding.

00:25The artistic community was thrown into somewhat anxiety state when the open fund that Creative

00:31Scotland has for individuals was closed early.

00:34It's now, surprise, surprise, been reopened again.

00:37So unfortunately we do not have any faith in the Scottish Government's commitment to

00:43public funding for the arts because the sands continually shift and the life of a freelancer

00:50is precarious enough as it is without the added stress and anxiety of not knowing whether

00:56there's going to be public funding available.

00:58People can't plan ahead, people can't make decisions, there will be no arts in the future

01:03beyond those rich enough to go into the bank of mum and dad to fund it.

01:08Equities here along with MU, the Scottish Artists Collective, the Scottish Society of

01:13Playwrights, BECTU, all the creative industries are involved.

01:17We are all concerned because it affects all of us and it also has a knock-on effect for

01:22other areas.

01:23If you close a theatre then you're losing your cleaning staff, your box office staff,

01:29the local shops round about who feed and clothe the people, they all lose out on money.

01:35You just have to look round the Tron gate in Glasgow to see how difficult it is to keep

01:40a building running on a profitable level without significant public investment.

01:45Stop the cuts, fund the arts, feed the economy.

01:50The bottom line is there is no art without artists and we bring in an immense amount

01:55of money to the Scottish economy.

01:57It doesn't make any fiscal sense to not contribute to the arts in Scotland.

02:03To adapt the words of Mel Brooks, playwright, from the producers, you as the politicians,

02:11we are the artists, we outrank you.

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