"At a time when government support for the arts is being scaled back, the arts surely need private patronage more than ever. And so it seems self-indulgent and irresponsible to start fretting because, heaven forbid, a financial institution has stepped in to support a poetry prize. If artists react like this when the suits come with their money, then the suits may feel inclined to withdraw it completely. Will the arts be better off as a result?"
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Observer books editor William Skidelsky and novelist Geoff Dyer debate the withdrawal of two poets Alice Oswald and John Kisella, who withdrew from the TS Eliot prize last week in protest over its sponsorship by its hedge fund sponsor, Aurora
Photograph: Antonio Olmos
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 December 2011 13.00 