Paul McCartney slams the government after his Liverpool arts school loses funding

 Paul McCartney at LIPA - May 2018





www.alternativenation.net
Paul McCartney Devastated After Losing Huge Money
By Brett Buchanan
Apr 26, 2019

The Beatles icon Sir Paul McCartney has reacted to the UK government taking away £16 million in funding away from his Liverpool’s Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) in a new statement.

“I helped to bring LIPA into life during very difficult times for Liverpool. It is now a highly respected institution all over the world.

Our funding was recently affected by what to me, and the heads of every university in Liverpool, was a flawed process.

LIPA is my passion and part of my legacy. It would not be fair to allow injustice to affect its future. I sincerely hope the Government will correct this error and help us to continue our work successfully into the future.”

An Office for Students spokesperson admitted the process but didn’t want to comment any further, saying:

“The OfS is cooperating with the Ombudsman’s ongoing investigation into decisions made by HEFCE which pre-date the creation of the OfS.

This is a live investigation and it would not be appropriate to comment any further.”

Billie Eilish recently told Ellen about the time she met Paul McCartney over the phone, she said: “I was in a meeting with Stella McCartney and she FaceTimed her dad, who is Paul McCartney! My mom cried, my dad cried.”

Offering another “unreal” moment from her career so far, Eilish revealed that Spice Girls‘ Mel C once attended one of her shows.

“In London, Sporty Spice came backstage,” she said. “When I was growing up, we would watch Spice World. I watched that movie, like, 40 times.”

www.nme.com
Paul McCartney slams the government after his Liverpool arts school loses funding
Damian Jones
Apr 25, 2019


Paul McCartney

"Our funding was recently affected by what to me, and the heads of every university in Liverpool, was a flawed process"

Sir Paul McCartney has slammed the UK government after Liverpool’s Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) reportedly lost £16 million in funding.

The institution, which the former Beatle co-founded, claims a “series of errors, made in 2016, cost the institute in potential funding and a further £160,000 for the initial steps of a judicial review.”

The Office for Students (then the HEFCE) is said to have failed LIPA at the first stage of the process in 2016.

Despite being allowed to proceed to the next stage of the funding process – following a subsequent successful appeal – LIPA discovered that all of the funds had already been allocated, according to the Liverpool Echo.

An investigation has now been launched by the Parliamentary Ombudsman over how the Office for Students disqualified LIPA.

“I helped to bring LIPA into life during very difficult times for Liverpool. It is now a highly respected institution all over the world,” said McCartney.

“Our funding was recently affected by what to me, and the heads of every university in Liverpool, was a flawed process. LIPA is my passion and part of my legacy. It would not be fair to allow injustice to affect its future. I sincerely hope the Government will correct this error and help us to continue our work successfully into the future.”

An Office for Students spokesperson confirmed an investigation is underway, but did not elaborate further.

“The OfS is cooperating with the Ombudsman’s ongoing investigation into decisions made by HEFCE which pre-date the creation of the OfS. This is a live investigation and it would not be appropriate to comment any further,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Billie Eilish recently recalled the moment Paul McCartney FaceTimed with her parents.

She added: “I was in a meeting with Stella McCartney and she FaceTimed her dad, who is Paul McCartney! My mom cried, my dad cried.”

Billie Eilish/ Paul McCartney Credit: Getty