Don't cut arts cash, Gordon

Stars of British fashion, architecture and design issue a direct appeal to the Government today not to cut funding to the arts.

Figures including Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Sir Paul Smith, Dame Vivienne Westwood Alexander McQueen, Zaha Hadid, Melvyn Bragg, Ozwald Boateng and Sir James Dyson have signed a letter published in the Evening Standard today in an effort to garner support.

Arts Council England needs an extra £12million each year for the next three years on top of its current £411million to take account of inflation.

The Treasury is currently finalising spending plans for the next three years. Arts organisations fear that anything less than a rise in line with inflation will damage their successes of the last decade.

Arts Council England has warned that cuts would not only spread misery but also force it to axe unspecified institutions.

The leading creatives make the case that British success in commercial sectors, such as fashion and architecture, is directly linked to the investment made by Labour over the past 10 years.

Their views echo the argument made by Stephen Frears and Dame Helen Mirren at the Oscars when they traced their success back to their training in subsidised theatre.

Sculptor Anish Kapoor, the 1991 Turner Prize winner, said: "In so many different spheres we have things of real world quality going on in the UK culturally.

"Whether we're talking about the visual arts, drama or music, the amounts of money involved in supporting them are minute relative to any overall budget.

"The repercussions will be enormous if we skimp on them. The cultural industries are huge earners.

"We're looking, I hope, beyond maintaining investment. I hope Gordon Brown can take the thing a little further than Tony Blair was ever able to." Even standstill funding would be damaging because many arts institutions have little margin for unforeseen circumstances. The Donmar Warehouse theatre, for example, receives a £500,000 grant from the Arts Council but requires £3 million a year to mount its programme of productions.