Just 18 months after Peter Bazalgette, or the great Baz of the Arts as he is now to be known, first floated the idea of a “CBI for the creative industries”, his wish became a command with a glittering launch party for the Creative Industries Federation in London on Monday night. Chancellor George Osborne was actually cheered by the crowd when he compared the sector’s huge contribution to the arts with that of banking, pointing out that the Arts Council didn’t cost quite as much as the bailout. He then went on to say that it wasn’t just the economic impact, but the ability of the arts to “give voice to people in this country”, citing poppies at the Tower as the best example this year. It was standing-room only by the time politicians including broadcasting minister Ed Vaizey and Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader arrived. Rory Bremner made up for the absence of Harman’s boss with an impression of Ed Miliband, possibly unhappy at the absence of St George flags in King’s Cross. With Anish Kapoor, Paul Greengrass and CiF chair Sir John Sorrell attending the party at the University of the Arts in Kings Cross, the arrival of Alan Yentob made it seem like bash for Imagine, his BBC strand. Glitzy it may have been but the creative team’s first task might be fixing an acronym that’s already in demand.
