Christine Jardine
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West
Jardine welcomes potential Festival support
Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine has welcomed the potential support to Edinburgh’s cultural sector in the Government’s Spring Budget.
A reported £8.6 million worth of support for Edinburgh’s festivals is expected to be included in the Chancellor’s plans tomorrow (Wednesday) and follows a call to the government to provide funding.
Christine has consistently called on the UK Government to do more to support Edinburgh’s cultural sector including at Business Questions last month in which she pressed for support for the Edinburgh International Festival and the King's Theatre.
Following this latest news, she said:
“I am pleased that the Culture Secretary and Secretary of State for Scotland appear to have taken on board my comments about the importance to our economy of supporting the Festival’s recovery from covid.
“The cultural life of Edinburgh is a massive contributor to the health of not only the city’s economy, but also for Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole.
“Of course, we await the details of this reported pledge, but it is encouraging that the UK Government has listened to my calls to provide support for the city's vital cultural sector which is so important to jobs and businesses in Edinburgh West and beyond.”
About Christine
Christine is the UK Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West.
Before Parliament, Christine was a broadcast journalist with the BBC and taught journalism at the University of Strathclyde.
Since being elected, she has campaigned on air quality, pension equality for WASPI women, medicinal cannabis, refugees' right to work and the cost of living. She is Vice-Chair of the All Party Group for Choice at the End of Life.
First elected in 2017, Christine was re-elected in 2019.
Edinburgh West speaks up on Cost of Living
Christine has launched a Cost of Living survey to which over 700 households have already responded.
The Lib Dem MP is contacting residents to find out how the crisis is affecting them and what action they want to see from their politicians.
She said: “We mustn’t lose sight of the impact that this is having on real people who are finding the cost of everything from their shopping to energy bills or simply keeping a roof over their families heads getting more difficult by the day.
“This is not just about money markets or the value of the pound; it has a real and direct impact on the lives of families, pensioners and businesses and I want to know what you want your politicians to do about it.
“From the results so far, it is clear that people in Edinburgh West feel that the UK Government is simply not doing enough to ease the burden people are increasingly facing."
