If Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw really does want to rally the arts world to stop an incoming Tory government, he really needs to grasp a few essentials.

The first one being the fundamental flaw in this call to arms: “We need a few more luvvies to be jumping up and down about it,” he told a Labour audience, “because that is not happening at the moment. I am trying to provoke them into doing it.”

Not calling potential supporters in the arts world by the dismissive pejorative “luvvies” would be a start. The outside world may laugh at the point, but a Culture Secretary should know that serious professional performers detest the term.