BRITAIN is at risk of becoming a “cultural wasteland” if the government does not speed up its process for paying out its promised rescue fund, an entertainment workers’ union warned today.

Bectu welcomed the report by MPs in the culture, media and sport select committee said that the government has been “too slow” to address the threat to the existence of the arts sector as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The report found that the government’s support package of £1.57 billion took too long to come, resulting in redundancies that may otherwise have been avoided.