Government arts funding in the Uk is supposed to be flat over the next few years. But “companies including the Royal Opera, English National Opera, the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company will get a 2.75% increase – the estimated inflation rate – in 2007-08 even though the council estimates that its own standstill funding means a real loss of £34m. The council said it rejected ‘equal misery for all’, and the consequence is double misery for some, particularly the 121 groups which lose all their money, and a further 54 which will face drastic cuts.”