Equity chief calls on PM to ‘return arts funding to where it was’

The General Secretary of performers' union Equity has urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to forget the creative industries in his plans for a “decade of national renewal”.

Speaking to Left Foot Forward at the TUC congress, Paul W Fleming said: “If a decade of national renewal doesn’t include an industrial plan for the creative industries, then there’s not going to be a decade of national renewal.”  

To do this, Fleming said Labour would need to "return arts funding to where it was".

“We do creative industries very, very well," he said.

"We’re the second largest producer of film and TV in the world. We’re the second largest producer of video games in the world.

"Creative industries are worth more to the economy than banking. Without a sectoral plan and without an industrial strategy, we’re not going to maximise the potential.”