Arts Council England chairman Christopher Frayling is disappointed in government attitudes towards the arts. “The arts often remain an afterthought in government policy – and the arts are often the first to suffer when money is tight. To make matters worse, governments can also interfere in the arts. Lately, I have sensed the distance between the Arts Council and the Government is narrowing. The Government clearly thought we were being ungrateful after the big uplifts to arts in previous spending rounds. We felt betrayed that the Government had decided not to continue with its investment of new money – despite all the success. A strange decision, since the upward curve of the arts was one of country’s good news stories. It was up to then an uncompromised record – so why start compromising now?”