iPhone/iPad app

On the day that the newspapers told us that our hilarious new government is telling the art world that it should look at the US model for funding because they're about to cut the arts budget by 40%, I receive confirmation that the Arts Council are going to fund the development of my app, based on Jefferson Greenspan Saves The World?.

I am pleased beyond measure, not least because the novel itself has been coming along nicely over the last few weeks.

And that US model for arts funding? That's the one where all arts funding comes from corporations and wealthy philanthropists, the one where the wealthy decide what art should be, the one where artists either make money and so don't need funding, or where they somehow manage to get a few crumbs from an oil company's tax dodge scheme.

Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, once filed an expenses claim for one penny to cover the cost of a 12-second mobile phone call. His personal wealth is estimated at £4.1 million.