By Bill Heaney
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today criticised the SNP-Green Government for failing to do enough to support Scotland’s hospitality and culture sectors, as he tabled a motion on the closure of the Edinburgh Jazz Bar.
Last week, it was announced that The Jazz Bar, an iconic music venue in Edinburgh, will close after almost 20 years. Founded in 2005, the venue played host to a huge variety of musicians and was an integral part of the city’s music community.
The venue’s website indicated that the cost of living crisis and operational challenges “proved too much” to carry on running.
Mr Cole-Hamilton, left, said: “The Jazz Bar’s closure will cut deep into the heart of the city’s cultural landscape, while delivering a huge blow for all those in the music community.
“The SNP love to masquerade as advocates for Scottish culture, but, in reality, we have seen far too many cultural venues and initiatives, such as the Screen Machine and the Edinburgh Filmhouse, coming under increasing threat on their watch.
“By slashing the culture budget, cutting money from local government and failing to support businesses with the cost of living, SNP and Green ministers are unleashing a rising tide of pressure for our culture and hospitality sectors.
“I want to see the Scottish Government investing for the future to preserve Scotland’s proud musical, artistic and literary history, and working with the UK Government to help ease the strains on businesses struggling to stay afloat. If they do not, I worry we could see many more businesses facing the same fate as The Jazz Bar.”
You can read more about the closure of The Jazz Bar here
In September last year, the Scottish Government reimposed a £6.6 million budget cut on Scotland’s chief culture body, Creative Scotland. You can read more about that here. The body is still facing a funding blackhole of more than £50 million.
The full text of Mr Cole-Hamilton’s draft motion submitted to the Chamber Desk is as follows:
That the Parliament deeply regrets that the iconic Edinburgh Jazz Bar is to close after almost 20 years; understands that the venue was a cornerstone of Edinburgh’s music community, hosting many great musicians and championing live music in Scotland for almost two decades; acknowledges that it faced a number of difficult challenges, including the impact of the cost of living crisis; commends the vision of its founder, Bill Kyle; further commends Mr Kyle’s wife Mary Ann and daughter Edith for maintaining the business after his passing; urges the Scottish Government to do everything in its power to support other cultural institutions like The Jazz Bar to allow them to continue operating.