The English National Opera, which is thought to have asked the Arts Council for a £10 million bailout because it is “on the verge of bankruptcy, has been turned down, offered a smaller funding package instead. “The package is believed to contain £2 million to pay for seats which tilt back, and a system for surtitles – a surprise request for a company founded to produce operas in English.” Martin Smith, the company’s chairman, “claims that the company will be £4.2 million in the red by January, and insists a fifth of its workforce of 500 will have to go if it is to survive. The number of productions will also have to be cut.”