Thatcherism in action: Cardiff’s plan to privatise #StDavidsHall

On 12 December, Cardiff Civic Society was invited to give a presentation to Cardiff’s economy scrutiny committee on proposals to hand St David’s Hall to Live Nation Inc. Here’s what we said:

This is an example of Thatcherism. Privatisation was and remains, a key platform of Thatcherism - where public assets are transferred to private owners. The loss to the people of Cardiff, should this deal go ahead, is immeasurable.

 One of the key principles of social democracy has always been the emphasis on the provision of a full cultural life for everyone - from all walks of life.

 St David’s Hall in its current form certainly provides that.  There’s a wide mix of entertainment, along with important opportunities for schoolchildren from all wards in Cardiff to improve their confidence and communication skills by performing at the national concert hall of Wales.

Tickets for a wide range of concerts remain affordable thereby extending cultural opportunities to people from a broad spectrum of society.

It is crucially important that councillors  take this opportunity to question the plans put before them rather than simply accept proposals that remove the Hall from public ownership forever.  Raising these questions is particularly important given that a global entertainment company such as Live Nation, and its subsidiaries, will be highly unlikely to put people before profit.

Councillors should also be asking how their local authority can afford to spend upwards of £200 million of taxpayers’ money on building a new arena in Cardiff Bay – again for Live Nation.  Yet the same council cannot conjure up £1 million per annum to keep a concert hall afloat for the benefit of its citizens.

Should you ask, where will the money come from to sustain St.David’s Hall – one answer could be charging premium rates of council tax on second homes in the city.

St.Davids Hall is vitally important to the cultural and musical life of Cardiff, and should remain in public ownership so that it can continue to provide its invaluable service.  Arts for all is a fundamental premiss of social democracy.  We should not erode this by handing over our national concert hall to a global entertainment company whose interest in the people of Cardiff is non-existent.

Should Live Nation be allowed to operate both the new arena in Cardiff Bay and St. David’s Hall, the company will pretty much have a stranglehold on musical events and pricing in the city. Particularly, as it Live Nation also owns Ticketmaster.  A near monopoly combined with a policy of dynamic ticket pricing will mean that only the wealthy will have the luxury of a broad cultural offering.

As always, it will be the worst off in our city who will suffer.