Ed Sheeran has slammed the Tory government for its lack of support for the arts, saying they believe the form “doesn’t matter”.
Speaking ahead of this week’s election this past weekend Speaking on the podcast with Theo Von, Sheeran said he spoke to an old music teacher about the cuts and how they are affecting the next generation of British musicians.
“I’ve probably been doing music stuff in high school for the last seven years because in my district, basically in 2017/2018, my old music teacher came to me and he said, ‘Look, , the people currently in charge of the government don’t value the arts at all…art, drama, music they have also cut all funding for comprehensive high schools.
“So my music teacher came to me and I thought they had to split the fees between art, music and drama, so for example the fee for those three subjects was £700 a year. So I started giving grants to local high schools. And then you would Seeing a huge increase in the number of kids getting into producing, songwriting and doing that.
The singer continued: “I built a recording studio there. There were a lot of suitable instruments that weren’t broken and you just saw the school getting better and better at music. Then I started doing it in my county . We just changed it to be nationwide. I’m now visiting more high schools and places that really need music funding.
“You’ll also see how different it is. Because I’m not an academic, I would be seen as stupid in the real world, but I’m good at music, so people think I’m good at something.
He added: “We’re famous for the Beatles’ music. We’re famous for our paintings. Damian Hirst. We’re famous for our movies. Danny Boyle came out of here, Christopher… Nolan.
“The government only values math and banking, we make weapons but no one is proud that we make weapons and no one is proud that our banking is really good but they are proud of our art. So, for the government to It’s not important to say, like, the arts, where do you think the arts come from? So the next part of my career is getting proper funding and arts, music, drama back into schools, and Ireland is actually very good at that.
Regarding what might happen after the election on Thursday (July 4), Sheeran added: “I’m doing everything I can to raise money for it. But I think the new government will do a better job. But I want to continue to explore It’s music education. It worked really well for me, and I know it works for other kids, too, and I’m proof that the average kid can pick up a guitar, study hard, and do it.
“Britain is a great and proud country, but after 14 years of Tory rule it seems like nothing is working anymore,” Labor leader Keir Starmer said as he announced the election results. “Public services are collapsing, ambulances are not arriving, households are overwhelmed by rising mortgage rates, anti-social behavior is emerging on the streets – the list goes on.”
