The Evening Standard touts their own publication of Sir Nicholas Serota’s open letter denouncing David Cameron’s drastic budget cuts to the arts. Serota said arts had contributed billions to tourism and exports over the last 15 years:

“Now it seems that we might be about to throw it all away,” he said. “We have been told to expect cuts in museums, galleries and the performing arts of 25 to 40 per cent. The effects will be devastating. Theatres will go dark, orchestras disband, museums shut — and sport will suffer too. A whole generation of young people will be denied access to the fruits of everything that has been built up in the last 10 years.”

The Treasury is asking most government departments to make savings of 25 to 40 per cent, including transport, housing and policing. But the arts chiefs argued that they had already made 3.5 per cent cuts this year and raised £322 million towards the costs of the Olympics, and that every pound invested in subsidies generated £2 for the economy.

Culture Cuts Would Cause Irreparable Damage, Say Arts Chiefs (The Evening Standard)