Boris: London arts groups are 80% out of town

The Mayor of London has given a kicking to a Parliamentary committee please-my-constituency report, urging the Arts Council to spread more cash away from the capital.

Boris Johnson said the report ‘is based upon spurious calculations and a partial consideration of how the arts are funded. Arts Council England funding represents only one third of the public investment in the arts and more than half of the organisations it regularly funds spend 80 per cent of their time outside the capital.

‘London is one of the great world cities for culture, attracting visitors in the millions which helps generate billions the economy of the whole country. Sacrificing this particular golden goose for a bit of glib London bashing will do little to improve cultural provision in the regions and would be an act of sabotage for one of our country’s greatest assets.’