Tory lobby attacks ‘politically motivated’ Arts Council England

The Conservative Way Forward organisation has published its analysis of the ACE’s latest budget;

In November 2022, the Arts Council announced the 990 “National Portfolio Organisations” that would be receiving taxpayers’ money
for the period 2023-2026 (a total of £2.1 billion). Analysis shows that 196 of these organisations can be identified as politically motivated and engaging in campaigning activities. The annual funding that these organisations are set to receive every year is £126 million, and over the lifetime of the programme will amount to a total cost of £505.2 million.

Examples of the campaigning undertaken by these groups
includes:
• The Beacon Collaborative, will be in receipt of £163,333 a year, and advocates recommendations to “support orgs addressing
intersectional oppression”.
• The Crafts Council, which will receive over £2 million a year, and looks at “challenges to women of colour in craft spaces and
on social media, including racism, microaggressions and gaining recognition as expert makers”.
• The Chineke Foundation (pictured), which is set to receive £700,000 a year, and celebrates the fact that it “presented a season
with over 60% of music written by composers from the global majority” (a contentious term which encapsulates those
individuals who are classed as having been “minoritized”).
• Autograph ABP awarded over £1 million a year to “champion photography that explores issues of race, identity,
representation, human rights and social justice” whilst hosting discussions on “decolonising the camera”.
• Sadler’s Wells will receive over £2 million a year and has at the core of its work a commitment to acknowledge “the pain and
injustice caused by systemic racism”, to “address bias (conscious or unconscious) at every level”, and to introduce a “racial
equality task force” an “anti-racism steering group”, and an “EDI steering group”.
• Tara Theatre, has been granted £422,000 a year to carry out projects like “Unconscious? Exploring Bias in UK Theatre” that sets
out to “explore racial bias, stereotyping and discrimination in the creative industries” and
• Apples and Snakes, given £463,000 a year, has supported politically motivated causes such as “a vigil for black girls and
boys dehumanised in our education and policing system.”