In a letter to The Times on 22 January 2008, Christopher joined other top British early music performers in opposing the Arts Council's moves to withdraw funding from the Early Music Network. The letter is copied below, but you may also access it online.

Sir, One of the 194 organisations threatened with the withdrawal of its grant by Arts Council England is the Early Music Network. British musicians have long led the world in the historically informed performance of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music, and the EMN has been a vital advocate and facilitator in this field since 1977. If it is now abandoned, more than 100 concerts around the country each year would not happen. Nor would a biennial showcase providing a platform for innovative and emerging ensembles, and a competition for young performers. The network has helped to develop the careers of most of Britain's top early music performers, has helped to lever up to ten times its own Arts Council grant from other funders, and has acted as a model for similar structures in other European countries - all at an annual cost to the taxpayer that is less than the salary of one GP. Arts Council England would be wilfully negligent not to reconsider this.

James Bowman
Harry Christophers
Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Christopher Hogwood
Sir Roger Norrington
Anthony Rooley