Jack Gamble

Director, @_CFTA

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

🚨
Last chance to sign the @_CFTA petition to the Prime Minister, asking him to put the arts and culture in his 10-year plan for the UK!

We'll be delivering it to Downing Street on Tuesday.
It's not too late to add your name ✍️
https://t.co/2UbRz9Uhvg

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

Very few of the Budget’s measures were aimed squarely at culture, but many will affect artists & cultural organisations and, in turn, everybody’s access to the arts.

At @_CFTA, we've been taking a closer look at what #Budget2026 could mean for the arts 👇
https://t.co/tR3lkYsJqN

[Campaign for the Arts @_CFTA]

“There are parts of this Budget that will help the arts, and which we welcome: changes to business rates that will benefit many cultural organisations; paid parental leave for self-employed workers; new local powers, such as visitor levies, which could benefit culture if they are used well; and £15m to put books into children’s hands through BookTrust and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

But the Budget did nothing to reverse the long-term, overall decline in public investment in culture, and the spending plans it leaves in place point to a further squeeze. Today the Chancellor said he wants to ‘reject crude cuts’ that ‘drive up costs elsewhere in the system’. He is right, and cuts to culture are a case in point: their costs are felt in people’s wellbeing, in the vibrancy of local communities and in our social fabric. We hope he will keep this in mind when setting plans for culture spending at next year’s Spending Review.

The government’s 10-year plan, due later this year, is a real opportunity to change course. Over 50,000 people have signed our petition asking for the arts to be part of it: available from childhood, accessible to all and thriving everywhere.

By revitalising the arts, we can revitalise the nation.”

Image credit:
📸 Carrie Davenport
💃 Fidget Feet performing at Earthchild 2026, presented by @artsekta
📍 Titanic Belfast

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

We're so close to reaching 50,000 signatures on @_CFTA's petition to @andyburnham, urging him to put the arts & culture in his 10-year plan for the UK.

Please consider adding your name, to help us reach this major milestone 👇

https://t.co/2UbRz9Uhvg

[Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE, FRSA @KennethTharp]

🎵🤎🎵

[Terry Jermy MP @TerryJermyMP]

The Tories used to be such champions of the arts, so sad to see this. We should of course be funding more prison places, and the Government are, but not by sacrificing arts and culture funding.

[Samuel Hemsley @SJRH03]

Really disappointed by this. It shouldn’t be a question of one over the other.

The arts are one of our biggest & fastest growing sectors. We should invest more not cut.

Cutting funding makes us less competitive internationally and will hurt future generations of British talent.

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

I don't believe @Rebecca_SPaul wants to undermine the UK's fantastic cultural sector, or the countless benefits it brings socially and economically, to people's lives and to Britain's place in the world.

Unfortunately, this policy does just that. It's not too late to rethink it.

[Campaign for the Arts @_CFTA]

We're deeply concerned that the Shadow Culture Secretary appears to be arguing for an end to almost all public investment in arts & culture.

A cut of this magnitude would be unprecedented and catastrophic. We've requested a full explanation of the numbers and a serious rethink.

[Back the BBC 📺📻📡📱🔴 @back_the_BBC]

@AdnanHussainMP The BBC isn't another streaming service, it's a public service. That's the whole point of it. It makes content that isn't economically viable in the marketplace but nevertheless serves the public good. What you're advocating is like having a subscription service for parks

[Campaign for the Arts @_CFTA]

We're deeply concerned that the Shadow Culture Secretary appears to be arguing for an end to almost all public investment in arts & culture.

A cut of this magnitude would be unprecedented and catastrophic. We've requested a full explanation of the numbers and a serious rethink.

[BPI @bpi_music]

British music 🤝 The BBC

BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE speaking at @gobeyondmcr 2026:

"As you may know, the BBC is currently undergoing a once-in-a-decade Charter Review by the UK Government. On behalf of the UK’s recorded music sector, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the BBC for their tireless commitment to supporting and platforming British music and artists – whether through their long-standing support of the Mercury Prize, their decades-long partnership with the Official Charts Company, the incredible impact of BBC Introducing, their international programming at the British Music Embassy, and so much more.

You might have seen the advert, “what has the BBC ever done for me?” on your TV screens or your social media in recent months. In the case of the UK’s music ecosystem, the BBC has done, and continues to do, an extraordinary amount. British music would not be the cultural or economic powerhouse that it is today without its support.

The BBC gave me my first career job as a journalist. I spent 9 years in total there, and know how importantly it takes British culture in all its forms, alongside British life and risk-taking. That experience taught me that public service broadcasting does more than just mirror culture. At its best, it gives new voices the confidence, platform and reach to shape it.

The BBC needs to be funded adequately and sustainably so that it can continue to invest in British music, and support and champion future generations of music talent.”

At her keynote speech at Beyond the Music 2026, BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE highlighted the BBC’s vital role in supporting British artists, championing new talent and helping UK music reach audiences at home and around the world.

As the BBC undergoes its Charter Review, she stressed the importance of adequate and sustainable funding to ensure this support continues for future generations of music talent.

Read the full speech here: https://t.co/N0eEWe0jOR

[Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 NICE 爷爷 @MichaelRosenYes]

Every profession I'm in is in trouble: public service broadcasting; university arts and humanities depts; book publishing; arts in schools.

[Campaign for the Arts @_CFTA]

CFTA responds to the House of Commons DCMS Select Committee’s inquiry into the future of the BBC ⬇️

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

#GoldenBoy at @AlmeidaTheatre is stunning. Hugely powerful and moving. Loved it

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

Ministers can and should be bold in crafting a new Charter for the BBC, built from first principles and built to last.

(5/5)
https://t.co/yZIKfhqH1o

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

At @_CFTA we welcome this report from the DCMS Select Committee, and in particular its recognition of the vital importance of the BBC to the UK’s creative ecosystem and national life.

(1/5)

[UK House of Commons Committees @HoCcommitteesUK]

The BBC is at a fork in the road.

MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee have published a new report urging the BBC to create a plan to ensure it is fit for the future and able to compete with the best in the world.

Read more 👇
https://t.co/hWMiBIxH5d

[Jack Gamble @JackGamble]

We passionately agree with the Committee that "a means of universal funding" must once again underpin this universal public service, and with their urging the Government "to keep an open mind on a household levy as a potential future model for funding the BBC".

(4/5)

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

Possibly the greatest moment of all television, of all time.