SUPPORT for the News Shopper's campaign to save the Bromley Youth Music Trust (BYMT) reached unprecedented levels last week as a national newspaper leant its support.

The Times' chief music critic Richard Morrison blasted Bromley Council as a group of "town hall curmudgeons who see talent as a drain on public funds".

Writing in his weekly column, the critic blasts the council for its proposals to cut funding for the BYMT by 21 per cent.

He calls the timing of the proposals "farcical" and reckons the council's order that the BYMT should try and get commercial funding "makes Marie-Antoinette's 'let them eat cake' seem quite reasonable in comparison".

Mr Morrison joins with Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell and Classic FM director Roger Lewis as well as hundreds of Bromley residents who have written to support our campaign. Conservative councillors on Bromley local education authority have released a statement saying they welcome views on the proposals from anyone who writes to them.

It said: "No decisions have been made. Please take part in the process and write to the education department at the Civic Centre in Stockwell Close, Bromley, BR1 3UH."

To have your say, write to Patrick John, News Shopper, Mega House, Crest View Drive, Petts Wood, Orpington, BR5 1BT.

December 10, 2001 13:53