Creative sector blocked to the working classes

WORKING class people are struggling to break into the arts world, leaving the sector dominated by the middle class and London, a new report has said.

- PAT HURST

Singer and political activist Billy Bragg performs during 'A Short History of Protest Songs' at the historic courtroom at the Shire Hall Trust in Dorchester.

(Finnbarr Webster)

Class should become a protected characteristic, similar to race, religion or sex, so the arts sector becomes more balanced, the report, Class Ceiling, recommends.

The report is the result of a review into the arts sector in Greater Manchester, led by the chancellor of the University of Manchester, Nazir Afzal, and Avis Gilmore, former deputy general secretary of NEU.

It says the rungs of the ladder that led to stardom for those in the region such as Oasis' Gallagher brothers, comics Peter Kay and Caroline Aherne or poet John Cooper Clarke, are no longer there.

Many of the findings apply equally to the South West.

The review included a survey of 300 working class people working in the arts in the region, including focus groups and 150 hours of interviews of those taking part, from teenage musicians and mid-career arts workers to Danny Brocklehurst, a Bafta and RTS award-winning screenwriter.