From austerity through Brexit to CV19: we need a franker discussion on how to rebuild around our creative industries

In the absence of a Glastonbury Festival this year, I have this past fortnight enjoyed the BBC’s Glastonbury retrospective. In particular, REM from 1999 caught my eye. This was principally nostalgia; I was in the crowd that night risking the throng of 100,000 people, although not so much the camping (an Aunt with a comfy sofa lived in Pilton in those days). My memory of the event illustrates how things have changed in the intervening two decades. Back then, I bought my festival ticket barely 6 weeks before the event. Compare that with the process these days, and you recognise the radical growth in demand we have seen for cultural events