‘Vandalism of the arts’: Nandy accuses Tories of creating cultural deserts

The culture secretary Lisa Nandy has accused the Conservatives of “vandalism of the arts” during their 14 years in government.

In an interview with the Guardian, Nandy said the Tories’ “violent indifference” to culture had left some parts of the country as “arts deserts”, as well as erasing cultural and creative subjects from the curriculum.

She 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.”

Nandy has promised to get state funding for culture into every community, and to ensure private philanthropy reaches beyond major cities. The UK Government is also conducting a review of the curriculum with a pledge to reintroduce arts, music and drama to schools.

Nandy also touched on the issue of repatriation in the interview, saying she was already in discussions with museums about the issue after being approached by British Museum chair George Osborne.

Some sector leaders have criticised the current situation, whereby civic museum trustees are free to make decisions about repatriation while national institutions are restricted by government legislation.

Nandy said she wanted the government’s approach to be consistent. Prime minister Keir Starmer has previously said there are no plans to change national museum legislation, however.

The culture secretary also pledged to ensure that public appointments to the boards of cultural institutions would be more representative of the country, saying she had been “horrified” by the lack of diversity in governance appointments under the previous government.

Nandy has promised to bring an end to the culture wars and focus instead on bringing the country together.

The culture secretary's comments come amid a review to identify spending priorities for the Autumn Budget, due to be announced on 30 October.

In a joint submission to the government earlier this month, five museum sector bodies, including the Museums Association, Art Fund, Association of Independent Museums, English Civic Museums Network and the National Museum Directors’ Council, called for emergency funding for civic museums and fair, long-term funding settlements for local authorities.

Referring to Nandy’s comments, MA director Sharon Heal said: “We very much welcome an end to the culture wars and would like to see a commitment to removing legislation that prevents repatriation from some national museums.

“We wholeheartedly support the commitment to access for all. Most people access museums and galleries that are close to where they live and we are calling for urgent emergency funding for civic museums across the UK so that they can sustain and develop their audiences.”