Yesterday was a black day for all the people who voted Remain, because the majority of the British people who voted, did so to Leave the European Union. It’s understandable that many are concerned for the future and their jobs that they are worried will disappear as will the EU funding that’s supported countless enterprises and projects.
But this is not a political blog. It’s a blog about reflection and also hope – this particular entry found its inspiration in a Face Book post when a distraught Remainer complained that the British were ungrateful for the EU funding that had supported so many creative projects, although we have contributed our share to the communal purse. I know there is wide spread concern in the creative industries for a future without this support or European co-operation/partnership. We should remember, however, that Britain has been spectacularly creative in the past and we can continue to be so in the future. Political institutions do not control what goes on in our heads or our imaginations and talent will eventually succeed. Artists will always find ways round barriers and across borders. It is too early to say – “we are doomed” – the politicians may think there is a line drawn in the sand but soft breezes and gentle tides can change all that, when there is mutual benefit. Art, in its conceptual stage, does not need huge funds. Europe may close its doors but there is the rest of the world.
In the mid 20th century, one of the greatest revolutions in music took place in a north west English port against all odds, without EU funding, though industrial decline and social deprivation would have made it a shoe-in for such if it had existed. However, it was Liverpool’s sea links with America, from where Scouse sailors returned with records of a new kind of music and guitars, (mostly smuggled, hard-to-come-by in post war Britain) that created something that spoke not just to Liverpool and then the UK but to the rest of the world. If we could do it then, we can do it now. Have hope, faith and create.
And anyway, twelve gold stars on Ringo’s bass drum – would never have worked.
Writing is rewriting 