Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Not so much a festival as a damp squib
In many ways, Boris Johnson's Festival of Brexit resembles the disaster it was meant to celebrate. It had unrealistic targets, failed to deliver on expectations and left the UK Government severely out-of-pocket. It is little wonder that the National Audit Office has been called in to finally lay it to rest. If only they could do the same for Brexit.
The Independent reports that the £120m “Festival of Brexit”, which culminated in a year-long series of events celebrating British creativity, is facing fierce criticism for its “colossal waste” of taxpayer money after bringing in live audiences of less than 4.5 per cent of its original target.
The paper adds that following criticism by a parliamentary committee of an “irresponsible use” of public funds, an investigation into its spending has been launched by the National Audit Office (NAO):
MP Julian Knight, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, says it has proven to be a “colossal waste of money”.
“There was certainly some stigma over the phrase ‘festival of Brexit’ at the start for certain artists, but the reality is that this was clearly a failure of the project. It was a failure in terms of having an idea and actually having something that resonated with people,” he said.
What is really depressing is that this £120m is not the largest amount of money thrown doen the drain by this government since 2019. They have in fact wasted or lost billions from mismanagement and dodgy deals, especially on not-fit-for-purpose PPE during the pandemic. It is no wonder government finances are in such a mess.
The Independent reports that the £120m “Festival of Brexit”, which culminated in a year-long series of events celebrating British creativity, is facing fierce criticism for its “colossal waste” of taxpayer money after bringing in live audiences of less than 4.5 per cent of its original target.
The paper adds that following criticism by a parliamentary committee of an “irresponsible use” of public funds, an investigation into its spending has been launched by the National Audit Office (NAO):
MP Julian Knight, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, says it has proven to be a “colossal waste of money”.
“There was certainly some stigma over the phrase ‘festival of Brexit’ at the start for certain artists, but the reality is that this was clearly a failure of the project. It was a failure in terms of having an idea and actually having something that resonated with people,” he said.
What is really depressing is that this £120m is not the largest amount of money thrown doen the drain by this government since 2019. They have in fact wasted or lost billions from mismanagement and dodgy deals, especially on not-fit-for-purpose PPE during the pandemic. It is no wonder government finances are in such a mess.
