Culture, Arts & Theatre protests planned across the UK

Protests against the lack of government support for the culture & arts industry amid the pandemic has been planned.

The Culture, Arts & Theatre protest is scheduled for July 11 at 12PM in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Similar peaceful protests are planned for other areas in the country.

The event has been organised by Darren Bell, inspired by a tweet from Sarah-Jane Price.

The Can You Hear The People Sing? website reads: “Theatre has been left behind by the government. The DCMS have been slow to work out a road to recovery for the C in DCMS. This is not just a London problem, this is a UK problem.

“Hundreds of redundancies, shows still closed for the unforeseeable future, and as yet no real roadmap of when they will re-open.

“Many are still unable to claim any financial support as the CJRS or SEISS schemes do not cover everyone for reasons including PAYE freelancers, maternity pay and LTD company owners/directors who pay themselves via dividends.

“We were told no one gets left behind, and we are.”

It comes after more than 100,000 people signed a government petition demanding support for the arts and freelancers.

The petition reads: “state where the theatres and arts fit in the Coronavrius recovery roadmap, create a tailor-made financial support mechanism for the arts sector and clarify how social distancing will affect arts spaces like theatres and concert venues.”

It will now be considered for debate in the House of Commons.