UK City of Culture hopeful Paisley has thrown its support behind Dundee after Brexit destroyed its arts dream.
On Thursday it emerged that the Tayside city has been declared ineligible for the European Capital of Culture 2023 competition as a result of the Leave result.
The news came in an official letter from the European Commission to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) just one week before the Dundee team was to make its final presentation to judges.
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The news scuppers years of work and also affects four other UK bids. These include Leeds, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and a joint proposal from Belfast, Derry and Strabane.
A spokesperson for Dundee 2023 hit out at the news, which came one month after the final paperwork was submitted.
He said: “The timing is disrespectful not only to the citizens of Dundee, but to people from all five bidding cities who have devoted so much time, effort and energy so far in this competition. It’s a sad irony that one of the key drivers of our bid was a desire to further enhance our cultural links with Europe.”
Now the team behind the Paisley 2021 UK City of Culture bid has come out in support of the affected cities.
In a statement, the team — led by local woman Jean Cameron, who headed the cultural programme for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games — said: “The Paisley 2021 team are disappointed to hear of the European Commission’s decision that it will not be possible for UK cities to participate in the European Capital of Culture 2023, as planned.
“We send our best wishes and support to our friends in the bidding places of Dundee, Belfast/Derry/Strabane, Leeds, Milton Keynes and Nottingham.
“We know how much the people of Paisley have poured their hearts and souls into our UK City of Culture 2021 bid and can only imagine the disappointment in those five places at this news after what will have been years of hard work.
“We support the team at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in their efforts to find a resolution — as we’ve seen in Paisley over the past two years, culture has the power to bring people together and transform lives, and cultural titles such as the UK City of Culture 2021 title we are currently bidding for are a wonderful way to do that.”
The UK Government had previously stated that bidding for the European prize was part of its plan for “a dynamic, outward-looking and global Britain”.
Bidders had been warned that withdrawal negotiations may affect the outcome, but DCMS said it “disagreed” with the European Commission’s position.
In her response, Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop criticised the decision.
“It is now concerning the amount of time, effort and expense Dundee have put into scoping out their bid could be wasted thanks to the Brexit policy of the UK Government.”
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