Scotsman.com News - Opinion - Scotland must have opera ensemble of the highest quality

The SSP policy on culture and arts, drama, theatre and music is to double the arts budget in Scotland immediately. The Executive spends less than 0.5% of our entire GDP on the arts.

I refuse to enter the Dutch auction there is about whether one form of art and culture, drama, museums, paintings is more deserving than another because I don’t think that this is the starting point for this debate.

Scotland is a rich country. We can afford a world-class opera ensemble. We must have a Scottish Ballet company and a national theatre of the highest quality and amidst all this we must also have the strongest possible support for community arts, traditional music, visual arts, local public galleries and museums - and Scottish Opera.