Why is the Government wasting so much time on waging culture wars?
Britains Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden (Picture: Tolga AKMEN / AFP)  The halls of museums and galleries echo to the sound of a sector close to collapse. Covids impact on this countrys culture sector has been immense. But instead of championing this important industry, home to an estimated 400,000 jobs, the culture secretary has been the Governments arsonist-in-chief for lighting the fires of culture wars. At PMQs, a favourite jibe of the prime minister is how the opposition wants to run this country down by criticising Government policy. In reality, its their partys culture wars that do just that. Theyre designed to exploit divisions, playing one side against the other to drown out any meaningful debate  and any talk of actually solving societys problems. Oliver Dowden has been at the heart of the Conservative Party strategy since David Camerons leadership. But it took four months of the pandemic last year before the Government revealed any significant financial support to his sector. Warnings from musicians, industry unions and heritage representatives were met with lip service for weeks. Freelancing actors and musicians faced financial ruin. An industry worth 10.47bn to the economy in 2019 is now weeping from a shameful lack of government care. Even now, nearly a year since his department announced the Culture Recovery Fund to save the industry, only half of the allocated 830m in grants has been paid out. Hes busy being the Minister for Anti-Wokeness; the Secretary of State for Stoking Tensions. His battlegrounds are statues, flags and all things woke. The Queen gazes modestly on from behind him as he appears on Zoom calls. The 90s saw Geri Halliwell in a Union Jack dress  Dowdens pitching to be her successor. When he announced in March that public buildings should fly the flag to remind us all of the ties that bind us, you cant help but wonder how many days of important government time was wasted to create this idea. Swaddling everything in the flag isnt a replacement for improving lives  or providing any tangible reason for Scottish voters to stick with London. And well be seeing lots more flags in the next few months: this summers sporting fixtures are prime culture war material for the Tories. From the cricket and football alone, weve already seen Government floundering on taking the knee. Englands Mason Mount (left) and Declan Rice take the knee before the UEFA Euro 2020 Group D match at Wembley Stadium on 13 June. (Picture: PA)  Neither Boris Johnson nor Dowden could condemn football fans booing their team, with Priti Patel saying its their right to do so. One Conservative MP even went as far as comparing this symbol of solidarity with a Nazi salute. What should be an act of protest against racism in sport and wider society was turned into whipped-up culture war. Dowden also made an alarming intervention into cricket as Ollie Robinson was suspended from international matches for historic racist and sexist tweets. The minister said that the Crickets Boards decision was over the top and that they should think again. He should have stopped speaking after he called the tweets offensive and wrong. Instead, Dowden made a choice to fuel more tensions, giving material for right-wing pundits and voices to scowl over. A responsible government minister wouldnt seek to pardon any bigotry, past or present  and yet there was Dowden ignoring problems to push his own political narrative. Then theres Dowdens determination to inject as much national allegiance into our lives  is patronising. He detests the idea that our shared history isnt the rosy pictures from a Ladybird book for children, but actually a complex, prejudiced and bloody mess. His recent interference in the Museum of the Homes decision to remove a statue of slaver Sir Robert Geffrye on display is a shocking example of culture domineering. By using his office to reportedly advise a museum not to take down the statue -despite a consultation finding most respondents wanted it removed  it speaks not of free speech and liberty to learn, but an authority-obsessed, paranoid government. Sources claim that Dowden said the statues return was to defend our culture and history from the noisy minority of activists trying to do Britain down. Statues have become a matter of intense public debate over the last year. They represent more than just old historical figures, cast in bronze and weathered with age. Protesters throwing the statue of Edward Colston into Bristol harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest rally last year (Picture: PA)  The Governments outrage on statues is artificial, and a prime example of Dowdens hypocrisy on heritage. The Culture Secretarys line is drawn at keeping statues of slavers up to educate people on the history. A staunch, flat refusal to see these memorials to death merchants tucked away from public spaces. But for people whose ancestors, brothers and sisters were enslaved by British traders, this is so much more than just a statue. A slavers body placed on a marble pillar for all to see is a commemoration for the evils they committed. While these wars are being waged, not only are the difficult topics being muddied but our current political climate is too. Days of coverage on culture wars drowns out any meaningful discussion, with media outlets so keen to present equal, opposing views on historic atrocities and prejudice  thus only legitimising the culture war further. Its a vicious cycle. But theres a spritz of hope from within this toxic mess. Recent studies and polling suggest that despite the enormous machine of culture wars driven by Dowden and the Tories, the reality is different to their beliefs. The Policy Institute  an academic political research forum from Kings College London  led a study into culture wars, offering up a better glimpse of what Britons really think. The concept of white privilege, microaggressions and cultural appropriation are relatively well-known, whereas the definition of woke and even culture war itself is more unclear. Whether this means the public are more woke than Dowden thinks, or if theyre simply not interested in these Whitehall games, it suggests that were not quite the fragmented society Dowden thinks he lives in. Separations in society can be healed. Political and social change through the course of history tends not to look kindly on powerful actors running down a divided, diverse people. Dowdens culture wars are the tools of a government that has so little to offer in terms of progress that only conflict preserves their popularity. Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. Share your views in the comments below. You should be booing Boris Johnson  MORE: Why the ECB were right to suspend Ollie Robinson for racist & sexist tweets  MORE: Flying the Union Jack on government buildings wont make me more patriotic