Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw managed to fan the political flames and reopen healing wounds when he went off-piste in November during what should have been a fairly routine speech to the Labour group ‘Progress’. He was critical of the PM on electoral reform, which would be foolish in the run-up to a general election if one valued one’s job – perhaps Bradshaw doesn’t. He seems out of touch with the people over whose lives he has such influence. Additionally, using the word “luvvies” has not endeared him to anyone in the arts, and highlights a perceived lack of empathy with a struggling sector – which is already lobbying rather hard to have its voice heard and to keep the arts firmly on the political agenda. To suggest otherwise is pejorative, and worryingly ill-informed. His rather bizarre claim that a play such as ‘Enron’ would not be funded under the Tories is daft – especially at a time when the Tories are doing so much to cosy up to the arts world. Does Bradshaw not realise that Arts Council England is not supposed to dictate the artistic programmes of the theatres it funds? Demanding that more “luvvies stamp their feet” is not the way to drum up support for Labour, as it infantilises those who work in the arts.