• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Thursday, May 22, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

Ken Loach nails the subtle reason Labour’s commitment on the arts will transform Britain

James Wright by James Wright
25 November 2019
in Trending, UK
Reading Time: 3 mins read
160 12
A A
1
Home Trending
319
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Renowned director Ken Loach nailed the subtle reason why Labour’s commitment on the arts will ‘transform’ Britain on 24 November.

“Bigger than it may seem on paper”

Loach – the director of I, Daniel Blake, Cathy Come Home, and his latest work Sorry We Missed You – was speaking alongside musicians such as Lily Allen and MIA at Labour’s ‘Arts for All’ launch. The party has pledged £1bn of cultural investment in art and music.

He began with a reference to former Labour prime minister Clement Attlee’s promise on the subject, saying the 1945 manifesto was “very relevant to what we’re doing today”. Its commitment, he said, was:

‘We desire to assure to our people full access to the great heritage of culture in this nation.’ And what is happening today is renewing that promise.

Then, he said:

the transformative effect for a pupil who’s maybe having trouble at home, who’s angry with the world, who has no self-respect… To go to a music lesson 1-on-1 and learn an instrument is absolutely transformative. [That] increases that self-respect, increases that sense of worth. And that’s absolutely what music can do.

So to know that a Labour government will make certain that every child has the chance to learn an instrument, that’s absolutely transformative. Much bigger than it may seem on paper. Because it means hope.

https://www.facebook.com/JeremyCorbynMP/videos/2422189501227091/

“National cultural renaissance”

Labour’s arts pledges include:

  • ‘Investing £1bn to transform the UK’s cultural landscape by upgrading and building new libraries, museums, galleries and arts venues across the country’.
  • ‘Investing £175m a year in an arts pupil premium to give every primary school student in the country access to creative and cultural experiences’.
  • ‘Launching a new ‘Town of Culture’ competition’.

And Jeremy Corbyn said:

The arts are a common inheritance that make our society culturally richer and put a smile on all our faces. We must cherish them and protect them.

Labour’s national strategy for the arts will embrace our rich cultural heritage from William Shakespeare to Ben Okri, Mary Quant to Tim Berners-Lee, delivering a national cultural renaissance

“Tragedy”

Loach also condemned the Conservatives’ record on the matter, saying:

it isn’t just knowing of the culture of the past, but releasing everyone’s creativity. And in that respect, it’s such a tragedy that the funding for arts in schools has decreased. And we see that in the figures, and the great decline in arts entries for GCSE – 35% less and a quarter less entries for A levels

Soon after David Cameron took power in 2010, his government cut funding for the Arts Council England by 30%.

Life without art sucks

Loach and Corbyn are right. We need to live a life beyond just work. And free expression through individual creativity is a key route to happiness.

But it’s not just that art provides therapy and an outlet for the artist. The product itself – the music track, painting or digital creation – can be invaluable. Artwork is a permanent piece of cultural representation that isn’t just consumed and cast away like old clothes or a hamburger. It can provide meaning, solace, and emotional truth for generations to come.

Labour’s ‘arts for all’ pledge is yet another reason we must fight tooth and nail to defeat the Conservatives.

Featured image via Jeremy Corbyn MP/ YouTube

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

Tories call police on ‘peaceful’ inflatable badger

Next Post

Tory candidate who wants forced labour camps is busted trying to manufacture fake news

Next Post
Michael Crick and Lee Anderson

Tory candidate who wants forced labour camps is busted trying to manufacture fake news

Boris Johnson

Hidden in the Tory manifesto is a vile and racist attack they hope you won't notice

Boris Johnson

Here's the bombshell buried in Boris Johnson's 'do no harm' Tory manifesto

Julian Assange

Due to Tory contempt for Assange, over 60 doctors warn he 'could die in prison'

Stormzy

Stormzy signs star-studded letter endorsing Jeremy Corbyn

Please login to join discussion
Kneecap
Analysis

The pearl-clutching over Kneecap is a carnival of distraction from genocide

by Maryam Jameela
22 May 2025
Digital Surveillance: The Hidden Cost of Convenience
Tech

Digital Surveillance: The Hidden Cost of Convenience

by Nathan Spears
22 May 2025
horoscope
Horoscopes

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more

by Steve Topple
22 May 2025
Israel Netanyahu
Analysis

Verbal condemnation of Israel from European leaders is not enough

by Alaa Shamali
21 May 2025
TransActual toilet Supreme Court
News

Trans advocacy organisation unveils “Third Toilet” outside Supreme Court

by HG
21 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Kneecap
Analysis
Maryam Jameela

The pearl-clutching over Kneecap is a carnival of distraction from genocide

Tech
Nathan Spears

Digital Surveillance: The Hidden Cost of Convenience

horoscope
Horoscopes
Steve Topple

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more

Israel Netanyahu
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

Verbal condemnation of Israel from European leaders is not enough

ADVERTISEMENT
Analysis
Nathan Spears

Vote for the Press Photograph of the Year 2024

Image by Burkard Meyendriesch from Pixabay
Feature
Nathan Spears

Why Santiago Ways is the Leading Choice for Walking the Camino de Santiago

Environment
Nathan Spears

EU elections point to growing public desire for new policymaking approach in Brussels