Contributions
3,240 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSocial CapitalMy noble friend raises a very important point. The Government are absolutely committed to trying to capitalise on the surge of good will that she describes and build a real…25 Jan 2021HANSARDSocial CapitalThe issues that the noble Lord raises are more complicated, as I am sure he knows, than some of the limited examples that he has given. I commend to him the work that the…25 Jan 2021HANSARDSocial CapitalThe noble Lord is absolutely right; it is not just about what we do and what we spend on but how we do it and who we involve. I point the noble Lord to the shared prosperity fund,…25 Jan 2021HANSARDSocial CapitalI start by saying that it is an enormous honour to be the Minister for Loneliness. My inbox on loneliness is fuller than on any other subject that I am responsible for, and it is…25 Jan 2021HANSARDSocial CapitalMy Lords, social capital is the fabric that binds our communities together. Sources, such as the ONS and our Community Life COVID-19 Re-contact Survey, shape the steps that build…25 Jan 2021HANSARDSocial CapitalI genuinely disagree with the noble Lord’s last point. He is right that the impact of the pandemic has been uneven and hit the poorest hardest, and young people particularly hard,…25 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsMy noble friend makes some powerful points. She is quite right that UK music is one of our great success stories, generating almost £6 billion in GVA annually. In relation to…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsI thank my noble friend for his suggestion. We are exploring all ways of making this as simple and straightforward as possible, but he will be aware that each member state has its…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsI thank the noble Lord for his questions. I do not think the red lines were between DCMS and the Home Office; I think they were between the UK and the EU. We proposed a tailored…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsI am surprised at the noble Lord’s remarks, because our inflexibility, as he describes it, was simply that we tried very hard in the negotiations to stand up for Britain’s…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsI can only reiterate to the noble Baroness that our understanding of the EU’s offer is not as she describes it. I also repeat the words of my honourable friend the Minister for…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsWith regard to the noble Baroness’s broader point about support for musicians, the culture recovery fund has already dispersed over £168 million to more than 600 musical groups…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsI reassure the noble Lord that our negotiators did everything in their power to avoid the current situation. We are incredibly disappointed that the EU neither proposed nor would…20 Jan 2021HANSARDUK Musicians: EU Visa ArrangementsI understand the noble Baroness’s concerns in this area, and we definitely continue to explore routes through it. However, I reassure her that direct funding has gone from Arts…20 Jan 2021HANSARDEuropean Union: Visa-free Touring for MusiciansI am slightly taken aback at the noble Lord’s tone; the Government have been incredibly committed to this area. Obviously, there were multiple complex issues that needed to be…19 Jan 2021HANSARDEuropean Union: Visa-free Touring for MusiciansThe Government had an agreed position, which was to extend the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors. The EU rejected that.19 Jan 2021HANSARDEuropean Union: Visa-free Touring for MusiciansThere were a number of drawbacks to the EU proposals, which did not meet the requirements of our sectors, as I mentioned; they covered only ad hoc performances, they were…19 Jan 2021HANSARDEuropean Union: Visa-free Touring for MusiciansMy noble friend raises a very important point. There are two different issues here: on going back to the negotiating table, as I said to the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, our…19 Jan 2021HANSARDEuropean Union: Visa-free Touring for MusiciansI am sure the noble Lord is right that mutual blame probably does not get us much further forward. However, as I said, in the meantime we are doing everything we can to try to…19 Jan 2021HANSARDEuropean Union: Visa-free Touring for MusiciansI can say only to the noble Earl that we tried hard in these negotiations to make the case based on the evidence given to us by the sectors that we represent, and the EU rejected…19 Jan 2021