Trevor MacFarlane

Thank you to First Minister of
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @johnswinney.bsky.social for the invitation to #Edinburgh today for his statement on #culture & the #creative industries

Proud @culturecommons.bsky.social helped the National Performing Companies of Scotland secure a significant uplift in a recent gov budget

Could you be a Trustee of National Museums Liverpool?

They run several internationally recognised #museums & #art #galleries

Looking for 4 new trustees with a range of skills - details below

apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/8886

Minster endorses our policy on cultural infrastructure for New Towns — Culture Commons New Towns Taskforce report drawing on Culture Commons policy cited in an evidence session in a cross-party House of Lords committee.

Minister @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social endorses our recommendation to embed ‘cultural infrastructure’ into New Towns masterplanning

www.culturecommons.uk/news/minster...

#devolution news!

Major Bill tabled with game-changing provisions for communities and mayors across England

@culturecommons.bsky.social

Sad to say but poor coverage of Macron #StateVisit by BBC tonight

No sound, no translation, no relevant commentary following

La #BBC peut faire mieux!

We’re still an independent and not for profit think & do tank dedicated to the UK’s #creative #cultural and #heritage ecosystem…

…we’ve just had a little refresh!

We’ve brightened things up and made our projects, publications and services more accessible.

www.culturecommons.uk

The UK Government have published the Sector Plan today. It sets out actions until 2035 and will play an important role in guiding policy for the coming years.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68586c...

I remember having to stand in that separate queue…good to see them over

Can an #economist help me with a Q on the #SpendingReview?

Column showing % change “Phase 2 Period” for DEL spend in DCMS (see pic) doesn’t seem to add up.

Should be -4% total and I can’t see why that might be…?

Thanks in advance, smarter people than I

Ah this is interesting devo news. London will get an integrated settlement after all from next year.

It'll be interesting to see how the model differs in London compared to the combined authorities, and whether it'll require constitutional change in the GLA-Council relationship to make it work

Game-changing investment in social housing

Angela Rayner + Chancellor will have worked v hard to secure this

Cultural infrastructure can now empower communities to turn these new houses into homes

👀ing to DCMS & MHCLG to build joint investment progs to make it so!

@culturecommons.bsky.social

Below, the city bristles—
All brick heat and bus brakes

Above it all,
this bloom, this breath

Sits atop my windowsill.

It’s official: the best museum in Europe is in the UK An unexpected British museum has been named the European Museum of the Year for 2025.

Such wonderful news for my home city of Manchester and the whole of the UK - a huge congratulations to @esmeward.bsky.social and the team at Manchester Museum!

www.timeout.com/uk/news/its-...

“responsible radicalism”

…goes the death rattle of an entirely redundant party

Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Liz Truss despises the UK so acutely that she ran our economy into the ground and is now running about telling everyone how awful we are

Just staggering

Governments are chasing the wrong rainbows Opportunity and upward mobility are more important than GDP growth

“This century, GDP growth has been no guarantee of rising living standards, especially among lower-income households.”

Governments are chasing the wrong rainbows - by Andy Haldane

Will be tuning in next week…

on.ft.com/43kZiEr

What a way to spend the bank holiday…

‘Firebird’ by Stravinsky @royalalberthall.bsky.social both filled & hurt my head & heart in equal measure

Yes of course. Think of it as net gain eg those new voters once the losses have been taken into account too

Oh gosh indeed - a very meaningful one. The piece was Firebird by Stravinsky which captures the horrors of the First World War….!

Voter movements visualised to May 2025

Great stuff! Will give it a read Russ

Rachmaninov: 10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 5 in G Minor Sergei Rachmaninoff, Nikolai Lugansky · Rachmaninov : Preludes Op.23 & Moments musicaux · Song · 2001

Need a pick me up?

Heres the best interpretation of a #Rachmaninov Prelude you’ll hear today

Most welcome

open.spotify.com/track/0cSaAs...

There is nothing unusual about memos containing policy options moving between senior government figures

Jodie Foster, in Cannes for new French film, prefers life outside US Jodie Foster prefers to be outside the United States right now, the Oscar-winning actor told Reuters at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, citing better conditions in Europe's film industry as well as more freedom now that her children have grown up.

"I'd only worked with one female director until a few years ago. Isn't that kind of amazing? After I've made 60 movies that I've barely ever worked with another woman?"

Jodie Foster spotlighting how far we’ve to go on gender equality in the #film industry

www.reuters.com/business/med...

Encouraging noises coming out of the UK-EU summit with #Erasmus+ participation now firmly on the table

Uk Government can now drive towards removing those unnecessary barriers to reciprocal #touring

Sharing cultural works with our nearest and nearest is absolutely in our national interest

Starmer says he wants ‘more pensioners’ to get winter fuel payments in U-turn UK prime minister tells MPs the government will change unpopular policy this year

This was inevitable and (in my humble view) could have come well before the recent local elections

Sarmer says he wants ‘more pensioners’ to get winter fuel payments in U-turn

on.ft.com/4jZmMox

EU leaders urge Starmer to improve mobility deal in last ditch ‘reset’ talks Prime minister will meet Macron and von der Leyen on Friday to iron out details

“A deal…to allow British musicians and artists to tour the EU were in the Labour manifesto, and Brussels is offering to compromise on the latter.” via @FT

All behind @Keir_Starmer getting EU touring sorted to boost growth at UK-EU summit 19 May

on.ft.com/44zmXSG

A nice policy briefing here from @natcen.bsky.social team on attitudes to #devolution in Sussex

Some of the sentiments chime with findings we made @culturecommons.bsky.social as part of a major 4 nations open policy development programme examining ‘cultural devolution’

devolution.culturecommons.uk

Not seeing many strong arguments FOR allowing “posh ticket touting” (sic) @royalalberthall.bsky.social

Governance and background quite unique, but the workaround to have non-used seats owned by Trustees being routed back through box office for general sale seem eminently sensible