773 Friday 29th May - Felix

News FELIX, Friday May 29th 1987 1 2
Free for all
Labour will abolish museum charges
recently introduced at the Natural
History Museum in South Kensington
if they win the General Election.
Mark Fisher, Labour spokesman on
arts and media, made this pledge at
the launch of Labour Party policy on
arts and the media at the Riverside
Arts Complex to which FELIX was
invited, yesterday. It would be part
of the responsibility of a new
'Ministry of Art & Media' to increase
funding in all areas of the arts,
through 3 major channels. More
money will be put into the regional
arts associations, there will be a new
element in the Rate Support Grant to
local authorities earmarked for the
arts, and the new capital fund for arts
buildings will be set up. He stressed
that arts can make money for the
country and that over V2 million
people are currently employed in the
arts. He also said that the arts could
create 40,000 new jobs under Labour
as part of their target to make 1
million jobs in their first two years.
Labour, he claimed, would "widen
choice and open access, availability
and participation in the arts for the
public". He would not, however, put
any definite figures on the amounts
a future Labour government would
spend.
Present at the meeting to endorse
the policy were arts and media
personalities Ben Elton, Paul Weller,
Harold Pinter, Dame Peggy Ashcroft
and many others.
l
IC Radio computer
IC Radio has been given a multi-user
computer system on which to hold its
record catalogue. The computer was
donated by Safety Devices, a
Newmarket engineering firm, who
specialise in products for the
rallysports industry. Safety Devices
are currently running a car for Penti
Arrikalla.
WUy \S Mr Unci
the toavA \fc
i*? Here.
are