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.
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.
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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.