The neglect of the arts right now doesn't even make economic sense. I'm working through the industrial strategy for at the moment and the figures don't lie. Here's a selection.

Britain’s creative industries are worth £92 billion, employ 2 million people and are growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy. In 2018 they made a record contribution to the economy, of over £100 billion.

In 2013 the size of the UK Creative Economy was calculated as 9.7%. This makes it a bigger sector than Financial Services at 9.4% and a point smaller than the 10.7% of all manufacturing (Dovey et al 2016).

This last stat looks at organisations where 30% or more staff have training in the creative arts. Failure to support the cultural industries knocks on to other industries, too. Theatres don't operate in a vacuum.

My current area of research, immersivity, is estimated to be worth £30 billion globally by 2025. In 2018 the government announced they would invest £33 million in immersive technologies such as VR & interactive theatre. This R&D will play no dividends if the sector collapses.

I grieve for the jobs being lost, the art that isn't being made, and the lives that are being upturned. And I'm so very disappointed at the utter senselessness behind it all.

If you wish to use these statistics in a letter to your MP, you can adapt my draft: https://link.medium.com/WwrgZZMhN7