Nandy accuses Tories of 'violent indifference' over access to the arts

The Conservatives' "violent indifference" to the arts has resulted in communities across the country having poor access to culture, Lisa Nandy has said in advance of a planned funding review.

- Pippa Crerar

The culture secretary accused her Tory predecessors of "vandalism" as she pledged to get state funding to every community and make sure that private philanthropy reached beyond the big cities.

In an interview with the Guardian, Nandy said: "Over the last 14 years, there's been a vandalism of the arts. Violent indifference to areas of the country that are becoming arts deserts. They were just not interested in arts everywhere, for everyone".

The starkest example was in the school curriculum, she said, with Tory ministers describing arts subjects as "mickey mouse" and "erasing" them from the classroom, with the number of pupils taking arts GCSEs dropping by 47% since 2010.

"That closes off the opportunity for every child to live a richer, larger life," she said. "Unless you have a creative education, you don't have a complete education."