Up-front for the arts
Sir: The problem is that I am rather addicted to A. Waugh's column. I even agree with it now and then. Yet there is the odd time when the old boy nods. On 26 April he wrote that I 'magnificently de- clared' that 'the arts are about socialism.' I may well have uttered even worse inanities in the heat.
But the point is that since the performing arts and galleries etc have — over the years, by and large — needed an enabling up-front sum and since Popes, princelings and private individuals appear reluctant to stump up nowadays, the state can be a useful patron. The Labour Party recog- nises this and its spending on 'the arts' has brought pleasure and profit from a modest investment.
This, among other reasons, is why I am sure that A. Waugh will advise your better class of reader to vote for Kinnock next time around.
Melvyn Bragg
12 Hampstead Hill Gardens, London NW3
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