Tony Blair said yesterday that we are in a "golden age" of British arts and culture, which will be great news to all those about to lose their government funding as arts money gets diverted to the shambles that is the London Olympic project, and for all those people currently being made redundant from media, music and cultural companies facing not inconsiderable financial hardships. Though there is that argument that societies are at their most creative during times of financial hardship or political uncertainty - perhaps that's what he was referring to.
Blair commended the UK's cultural sector following news that London now rivals New York and Paris in terms of the numbers of people going to galleries, museums and theatre. With name checks for recent Oscar winner Helen Mirren, the success of Alan Bennet's The History Boys, and the fact the UK music industry contributes £6 billion to the economy and employs 130,000 people, Blair said he thought his time in the top job would be remembered as a period of "quiet revolution" in the creative industries. Which is all lovely. Well done him. And well done us, I suppose. Now let's all hold hands and try not to go bankrupt.