Let us disregard for a moment the fact that the very idea of an ‘arts and culture power list’ is laughable, not to mention nauseatingly sycophantic – who do they think you are, Forbes magazine?

Let us ignore all your clichéd descriptions of ‘backstairs fixers’ and ‘forces of nature’. Let’s ignore too, all your references to ‘driving forces’, er, ‘steering’ things, having ‘fingers in pies’, working with ‘industry’ (fig-leaf for any old dodgy doings) and generally being ‘instrumental’ (bunch of tools!) Let’s shrug, also, at the use of ‘erstwhile’ to describe Geoff Barrow when ‘former’ would have done. And let’s just smile wryly at the fact you’ve included someone who FAILED to secure European Capital of Culture status for Bristol.

Skip gaily on, then, here to the comments section where you offer the most abject, mealy-mouthed and patronising response ever to the fairly valid criticism(s) that every single person on the list is white! Apparently when you compiled the list you were ‘not once thinking of whether they are a man or a woman or black or white or straight or gay’. So that’s cool then.

And I can see quite a few people on the list who aren’t part of large organisations, who do slog and grind with no regular funding (ourselves included).