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Becca Monaghan
Sep 01, 2022
Theresa May says Brexit won't cause environment standards to fall in resurfaced ...
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The "Festival of Brexit" has attracted just 238,000 visitors in the last four months – a fraction of their expected target.
Launched in 2018 by Theresa May, the £120m Unboxed scheme aims to celebrate UK creativity. Still, it has since adopted the nickname of the "Festival of Brexit", which has seemingly damaged its reputation.
The official figures show the festival was expected to attract 66 million people – a far reach from reality.
Unboxed’s chief creative officer, Martin Green, believes the drastic shortfall is a result of the nickname. He revealed to House magazine that he only took the job because ministers promised it would not be a "Festival of Brexit" or "jingoistic jamboree".
He told the outlet: "It hasn’t left us. And we all must learn from this. Rule one of major events: don’t politicise them. And unfortunately a few chose to politicise it from the beginning."
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In March, the Commons’ digital, culture, media and sport committee took a swipe at the project, calling it "an irresponsible use of public money." They also added it was "vague and ripe for misinterpretation."
In response, Green revealed to the magazine: “Unfortunately, it appears the role of select committees is just to bash the department […] We said to them, in two weeks, we will gladly take you through every project in detail. And they did not take us up on that offer, which I think shows where their interest actually was.”
News about the poor results soon spread to Twitter – and well, you can only guess what happened next.
One said: "The festival of Brexit being a massive flop is pretty much on point."
Another added, "If there are THAT many Remainers that the Festival of Brexit was a failure because of us. That suggests that maybe, just maybe, there aren't many people left who believe in Brexit..."
\u201cFestival of Brexit a spectacularly expensive flop at \u00a3504 for every visitor. Which is quite on brand, really.\u201d— Jo Maugham (@Jo Maugham) 1662013265
\u201cFestival of Brexit cost \u00a3120,000,000\nVisitors 238,000\n\nMentioning Brexit, banned.\n\nSpent 4x as much as the Jubilee celebrations. 50x less visitors.\n\nAnother Brexit success\u201d— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheSun) 1662013836
\u201c\u00a3120m wasted on the Festival of Brexit. Another right wing Tory ego trip that cost us dearly.\u201d— Robert Bob 3.5% Ultra Remainer \ud83d\ude04. (@Robert Bob 3.5% Ultra Remainer \ud83d\ude04.) 1662011866
\u201cIn news that will surprise no-one, the Festival of Brexit has been a shitshow.\u201d— Ian Dunt (@Ian Dunt) 1662016298
\u201cThat \u00a3120m the Tories squandered on the 'Festival of Brexit' would have bought a lot of school meals for a lot of hungry children\u201d— David__Osland (@David__Osland) 1662018382
\u201cSpending \u00a3120 million on a disastrous Festival of Brexit, during a cost of living crisis, encapsulates everything that is wrong with this country.\u201d— Katy (@Katy) 1662019980
\u201cThe Festival of Brexit\n\n#BrexitLies\u201d— European Unity #FBPE \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 #JohnsonOut #Rejoin (@European Unity #FBPE \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 #JohnsonOut #Rejoin) 1662014051
\u201cTo be fair \u2026 I thought the Festival of Brexit was happening all around us anyway \u2026 the kind of festival where the toilets are overflowing sewage, there\u2019s no security so your tent gets robbed, you pay \u00a315 for fish and chips and you can\u2019t buy fresh fruit and vegetables anywhere!\u201d— John Spiers (@John Spiers) 1662020287
\u201cWell, it *was* a \u2018festival of Brexit\u2019, and about as successful as Brexit itself.\u201d— Prof Paul Bernal (@Prof Paul Bernal) 1662011587
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