As he prepared to leave London to set up an American Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles, Britain's most famous theater director, Sir Peter Hall, wrote in the Mail on Sunday that Prime Minister Tony Blair, promoter of Cool Britannia, has in fact betrayed the arts by refusing them subsidies.
While leaving London in order to found a Los Angeles-based Shakespear Company, Sir Peter Hall, the most well-known theater director in Britain, claimed in his Sunday letter to the Mail that Prime Minister Tony Blair's refusal to provide subsidies had been a betrayal of the arts despite the Prime Minister's promotion of Cool Britannia.
Sir Peter Hall felt that Tony Blair's promotion of Cool Britannia assured the Prime Minister's permanent status as "A Friend of the Arts".