Launching the document beside Auguste Rodin's statue The Burghers of Calais near the Palace of Westminster, Mr Ainsworth said the Tories were committed to the arts.

'Bottom-up approach'

"We want to give the arts back to the arts and the National Lottery back to individuals and communities - really back to the original idea that it was going to be a bottom-up approach to funding for things that were always going to be at the back of the queue," said Mr Ainsworth.

"The key note is freedom. Reducing bureaucracy, reducing state control and dependency for the arts, a huge commitment to the arts in terms of a #3 billion endowment fund and a pledge to reform the structure of arts funding in this country.

"I am always struck by how strange it is that the Arts Council, whose only real job in life is to hand out cheques, is neither respected or liked by an awful lot of people in the arts.