As a corollary to recent dicussion about State Subsidy, you might like to consider the alternative position, which is laid out here in Spiked:

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/3987/

"New Labour’s political outlook, reflected in its arts agenda, is rooted in a chronic insecurity about the public’s alienation from the political process and a nervousness of what we might get up to, unsupervised."

All bona-fide members of this board are welcome to contribute.  May I ask in advance for tolerance of all points of view, and no grandstanding or soap-boxing, thank you!