ENO needs London home, opera star says amid rumours of a rethink on funding cut

Danielle de Niese and Frederick Ballentine in It's a Wonderful Life at the English National Opera. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

There can be no true “levelling up” of culture across Britain unless we hang on to the places where top performers work together, the veteran opera star Sir John Tomlinson has argued. The international singer’s plea for Arts Council England to think again about moving the English National Opera (ENO) from its London home comes as rumours build that it is to go back on its shock decision to withdraw annual funding from the company.

“Every singer needs a thriving musical world around them,” said Lancashire-born Tomlinson, who is president of the Royal Northern College of Music. “You cannot develop your talent in a vacuum.”