Does this government fear the arts and artists?
Playwright Simon Stephens condemns "sudden, clinical, brutish" cuts as he launches the 2011 Bruntwood writing prizeDoes the coalition government have a wider agenda when it comes to spending cuts? Is it suspicious - fearful even - of the arts and artists?I pose the questions after a long conversation with playwright Simon Stephens - Motortown, Harper Regan, Pornography, Punk Rock - who is this evening launching this …