Following Conservative Education Minister Gillian Keegan’s announcement of a major funding cut for creative arts courses at English Universities in April and Goldsmiths University’s mass redundancy program, we are once again confronted with the increasing devaluation of the creative arts in our wider society.

As Starmer’s Labour Government recently brought 14 years of Conservative regime to an end, how will they respond to the crisis and what exactly does the recently published ‘Labour’s Plan for the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries’ entail?

To give a bit of background information, whether from a historical or contemporary approach, both the New Labour Government and the subsequent 14 years of Conservative regime saw the Creative Arts Industries as an opportunity to be incorporated into wider economic and political objectives rather than highlighting any intrinsic value in its creative practices. McRobbie (2011) noted that ‘the New Labour government, which from 1997 until 2007 at least, hoped that creativity would join the financial and service sectors as the postindustrial future for reviving UK competitiveness and growth.’ Garnham (2005) conducted an analysis on the ‘the cultural policy implications in the United Kingdom of a shift in terminology from cultural to creative industries.’ He suggested that since this shift in 1998, the arts have been viewed through an economic lens, where the cultural sector was defined as ‘being characterised by High fixed costs of production and low to zero marginal costs of reproduction and distribution, thus favouring economies of scale, audience maximisation and both vertical and horizontal concentration.’

The point is that the reactive arts have always served as a supplementary instrument to achieve certain goals elsewhere, and it is not different to Starmer’s policy for the arts. As Starmer pledges himself in an interview, the Labour Party wants art to be for everyone, to increase the accessibility of it for those from all walks of life. He further criticised the conservatives of thinking that ’working people don’t need culture and vowed to ‘create more opportunities for working-class kids and more secure jobs in the sector.’ (Walker and editor, 2024) Indeed, in the past decade, private school-educated students went on to represent almost half of all British artists nominated for Oscar, BAFTA, and Mercury Awards. (Walker and editor, 2024) With the working class population who engages with the creative arts halving since the 1970s (Tapper, 2022), 15 years of stagnation in the growth of engagement with the arts according to Arts Council England (Redmond, 2020), and another halving of GCSE, A-levels creative art subject undertakings since the 2010s (Campaign for the Arts, 2023), it does seem like he is onto something.

However, it is questionable in its own rights as Starmer practically suggested there that the creative practices and cultural activities currently consumed by working-class people are not

culture, and that only those currently inaccessible, such as visiting museums and galleries (heavily emphasised in the Labour’s Plan) are considered ‘culture’. Basically reinforcing them as an ideal, where all should work towards obtaining.

The Labour’s Plan for the Creative Industries was launched on the 14th of March 2024 at the Labour Creatives Conference. At a glance, the headline actions involve reforming apprenticeships, creating a friendlier atmosphere for businesses in the creative industry to navigate its current dubious constraints, increasing access to the arts by broadening its curriculum in schools, pathways from grassroots art and culture to creative careers, and supporting established institutions such as the BBC, Arts Council England, and Museums and Galleries. The policy further emphasised that the party is committed to growing the creative industries for its ‘economic benefit and the enrichment of lives across the country.’

Aligning with Starmer’s words in the interview, the policy states that ‘Arts and culture must be for everyone - not just the privileged few.’ After emphasising that the Creative Industries contribute more to the UK economy than the life sciences, aerospace and automotive industries combined, the policy further outlined a brief history of the growth of the sector on page 12 and the skills that the industry needs in the future, especially in technical roles, where the government will work ‘hand in hand with creative industries, colleges, and education providers to develop the courses at Technical Excellence Colleges.’

Pages 16 - 23 outlined in depth how the government will support creatives and organisations, specifically in terms of protecting creators and creative work, leveraging AI to unlock new creative frontiers, copyright regimes and more. Labour will also launch financial models that will support small businesses by bringing down energy bills by creating Great British ENergy, film investment tax relief programs, improving access to finance for small businesses and those that are looking to scale etc.

Labour will also create a private finance model or models to attract more funding from different courses to arts organisations, and support existing institutions by building up cultural infrastructure through the creation of a new map to identify existing arts and cultural institutions and local networks, to ‘highlight the cultural deserts that need to be reclaimed and replenished.’ Nurturing fledging art spaces and defending existing grassroots music venues will also be part of its approach to supporting existing institutions, to ensure that there are spaces to create.

Finally, Labour outlines its plans to increase access to the arts, to challenge the industry’s equality, diversity and inclusion policies, to urgently commission a full, expert-led review of curriculum and assessment and to launch a National Music Education Network as a music hub finder tool for parents, carers and teachers.

It may be slightly too early to predict the potential success of some of these policies at this stage, but without a doubt, the ambiguity in the policy does not currently promise any specific actions to be taken. Rather than recognising the intrinsic value of the creative arts, it does seem like Labour is once again using the arts as an instrument to manifest its values.

Follow the Labour’s Policy for the Arts tread here for regular updates. You may find the original pdf of the policy here