Culture Creativity and Media content in the 2010 Labour Manifesto

April 14th, 2010 - 
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Below are the sector relevant parts of the Labour manifesto.

Page 1.7

Broadband Britain

Britain must be a world leader in the development of broadband. We are investing in the most ambitious plan of any industrialised country to ensure a digital Britain for all, extending access to every home and business.

We will reach the long-term vision of superfast broadband for all through a public-private partnership in three stages: first, giving virtually every household in the country a broadband service of at least two megabytes per second by 2012; second, making possible superfast broadband for the vast majority of Britain in  partnership with private operators, with Government investing over £1 billion in the next seven years; and lastly reaching the final ten per cent using satellites and mobile broadband.

Because we are determined that every family and business, not just some, should benefit, we will raise revenue to pay for this from a modest levy on fixed telephone lines. And we will continue to work with business, the BBC and other broadcasting providers to increase take-up of broadband and to ensure Britain  becomes a leading digital economy.

Page 3.4

Barriers to social mobility will be tackled by giving disadvantaged families free access to broadband to support their child’s learning.

Page 6.3

In today’s fast-changing world, parents want to be confident they have the information and choices they need to protect their children. We will continue to promote internet safety for children, building on the recommendations of Dr Tanya Byron’s review. We will support parents who challenge aggressive or sexualised commercial marketing. We will ask  Consumer Focus to develop a website for parents to register their concerns about sexualised products aimed at their children.

Page 6.5

free TV licences for the over-75s;

Page 7.2

The next stage of national renewal

  • A golden decade of sport with the 2012 Olympics as a great national and world-wide celebration.
  • Registered Supporters Trusts enabled to buy stakes in their club bringing mutualism to the heart of football.
  • Operational independence for major museums and galleries, with more lottery funding returning to the arts, sport and culture after 2012.
  • Protection for the post offices and pubs on which community life depends.
  • The BBC’s independence upheld; and Britain equipped with a world-leading digital and broadband infrastructure.

Page 7.3 onwards

Arts, culture and museums

We have made unprecedented investment in Britain’s cultural life, widening access by introducing free admission to museums and galleries. Every child and young person should be entitled to five hours of art, music and culture per week, through learning to play a musical instrument, visiting local museums and joining film clubs, or taking part in local theatre.

Through Creative Partnerships we are ensuring that young people in the most deprived parts of the country are able to fulfil their artistic talents by working with local arts and cultural organisations.

We have provided the first nationwide programme of free theatre to young people; now we will build on the success of the National Theatre’s £10 Season to work with theatres and sponsors to provide reduced-rate tickets for theatrical productions around Britain. Our national cultural life and creative industries can prosper only by developing young artistic talent. Creative Bursaries will support the most artistically gifted young people in their early professional careers.

So that our cultural facilities remain world-class, charities, businesses and cultural organisations must collaborate more closely in the future. We will review how incentives for philanthropic support can be strengthened. Our major museums and galleries should be operationally independent of government, so we will legislate to ensure their managerial and financial autonomy. We will maintain our commitment to free admissions, encouraging people of all ages and a wide range of backgrounds to visit. Every child will have lifetime library membership from birth. Britain is enriched by its unique historical heritage. We will review the structures that oversee English Heritage, putting mutual principles at the heart of its governance so that people can have a direct say over the protection and maintenance of Britain’s built historical legacy.

We will give public institutions new rights to borrow works of art from the national collection, so that more people can benefit from access to our national artistic heritage.

National Lottery funding is more in tune with people’s priorities than ever. We will promote greater public involvement in the way that National Lottery proceeds are spent on good  causes. A proportion of Lottery funding is going to the Olympics. After 2012, this proportion will return to culture, heritage and sport.

Page 7.6

Britain’s creative industries

In every nation and region of Britain a wealth of creative talent – in industries ranging from film to fashion, design and video games – has flourished, and creative industries now account for ten per cent of the national economy. The strength of Britain’s film industry is a source of pride.

Through Labour’s film tax credit we have ensured that Britain – with its unique range of skills and facilities – is the right place to invest in film production. So that films can be enjoyed more widely too, we will maintain the film tax credit and create a merged British Film Institute and UK Film Council to establish a single body to promote film production and film heritage.

Subject to state aid clearance, we will introduce a tax relief for the UK video games industry.

We will support film festivals around the country, and establish a new biennial Festival of Britain, beginning in 2013, showcasing our major cultural achievements and young British talent across all of our creative industries.

The BBC is the most admired and trusted broadcaster in the world: respected internationally for its objectivity and its creative excellence, and here in Britain as a pillar of our cultural life.

We support an independent and world-class BBC at the heart of a vibrant public broadcasting system. Our strong support for its editorial independence and the licence fee that finances the BBC’s programmes and activities will continue. The BBC Trust should fully involve the public in decision-making.

The licence-fee is guaranteed for the ten-year Royal Charter that took effect on 1 January 2007. Channel 4 will continue as a public-service broadcaster providing distinctive competition to the BBC, alongside ITV and Channel 5. We are committed to maintaining plurality in regional news provision. We will fund three regional news programme pilots from the digital switchover under-spend in the current licence-fee period.

The digital revolution is transforming the world of broadcasting. We are working with the BBC and Digital UK to ensure that TV’s digital switch-over takes place smoothly by 2012, providing financial support and helping elderly people and the most vulnerable households in the UK.

To ensure we preserve competition and protect children and consumers on the Internet, we will safeguard the independence of Ofcom. We are extending broadband access to every business and home, ensuring universal access within a decade to high-speed broadband across the country. We will update the intellectual property framework that is crucial to the creative industries – and take further action to tackle online piracy.

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Policy

Weekly email: 1st April 2010

April 12th, 2010 - 
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We’d like to wish all our readers a very Happy Easter.

Today is April Fool’s day.

Tory Stuff

Ed spoke at the LGA Culture Tourism and Sport conference in Gateshead yesterday. Read his speech, and about the conference more widely, on their blog, including ACE chief executive Alan Davey who has been making the case for maintaining funding at local government level, HERE

Creative Industries

Ofcom – busy, busy, busy!

Ofcom – Pay TV

Ofcom has published the conclusion of its investigation into the pay TV market and concludes that: Sky must offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 to other retailers at a wholesale price set by Ofcom; give conditional approval to Sky and Arqiva’s request to offer pay TV services on digital terrestrial TV (Picnic), dependent on a wholesale deal; it will refer concerns regarding the sale and distribution of film rights  to the Competition Commission; and that Sky must offer wholesale HD versions of Sky Sports 1 and 2. More HERE and analysis on Media Guardian HERE .

BT does not think that Ofcom has gone far enough, saying : ‘Despite being a step in the right direction, it is disappointing that Ofcom seem to have compromised.  This is because their remedy does not apply to all Sky Sports Channels, there’s also no price for HD channels, they’ve set a price bundle of Sky Sports 1 and 2 at a higher rate than they suggested and they’ve left out the issue of premium movies.’

Sky have confirmed that they will appeal.

Ofcom – broadband

Ofcom has said that ISPs must do a better job of telling customers about broadband speeds, or face stiffer regulation, Full research HERE more HERE

Ofcom – media literacy

Ofcom’s report into media children’s media literacy suggests that a quarter of UK internet users aged eight to 12 have profiles on Facebook, Bebo or MySpace last year, despite the lowest minimum age set on any of the sites is 13, and band news for the music industry, finding that 44% of children between 12 and 15 thought downloading shared copies of films and music for free should not be illegal, more HERE Read the full report HERE

Ofcom – termination rates

Ofcom has published plans to reduce mobile termination rates (MTRs) – the charges operators made to connect calls to each others’ networks – to benefit UK consumers.

They will be consulting on these proposals until 23 June, more HERE

Ofcom – CRR

Ofcom has published the submission it made to the Competition Commission on CRR. It states that “Ofcom does not believe that retaining the undertakings in their current form is appropriate” HERE

Broadband

US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Julius Genachowski submitted a new “100 Squared” Nation Broadband Plan to Congress, full plan HERE, he raised the bar to an unprecedented height by proposing that that a 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100M bps (bits per second) Internet, and upload speeds of at least 50 Mbps by 2020, more HERE

Virgin are using innovative methods to get broadband to rural areas, more HERE

Press Complaints Commission

Following the extension of the PCC’s remit to blogs , Rod Liddle’s Spectator blog is the first to have a complaint upheld, more HERE

Video Games

Skillset have pointed out, rightly, that while the promise of tax breaks are an important step for the sector, the need to tackle the skills gap is as, if not more,  important. More HERE.

Channel 4

The Culture Media and Sport Select Committee has published a report on Channel 4, more: HERE

It calls for increased over-sight of the channel if its PSB remit is extended to include other platforms including E4, More4, Film4 and online services. More in the Times,

HERE and from PA, HERE

Channel 4 is to double its budget for arts funding, under a new arts board chaired by its director of television and content Kevin Lygo. Tabitha Jackson has been appointed as commissioning editor art, more HERE

Advertising

Professor Tanya Byron published her progress review on child internet safety at Number 10 on Monday. Read it in its full 60-page glory HERE. The report commends the ad industry for the work done so far, especially the industry agreement to CAP’s remit extension – HERE.

UK internet advertising expenditure has grown 4.2% to £3.5bn in 2009, and IAB/PWC figures reveal that ad spend mushroomed by 2,200% during the last decade. Search has surpassed £2bn, while online video ads have enjoyed spectacular growth. The Internet Advertising Bureau’s Guy Phillipson appeared on BBC R5 and you can listen to him HERE.

Radio

The Lords Communication Committee has published its report into digital switchover of television and radio this week, a summary is on our blog HERE more on the radio aspects of the report HERE download the full report HERE

Film

The UK Film Council has published its three year plan and launches its new £15m Film Fund, following three months consulting on proposals across the film sector. More HERE

EM Media announces nine new digital media projects with the support of the East Midlands Development Agency, more HERE

Camelot

The National Lottery operator’s shareholders have agreed to sell their shares to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for £389 million, more HERE .  Just think, it could have been you. Then again, if you used to teach in Ontario, it is you.

Fashion

Last week, twenty emerging London design talents flew to New York to show their work at the Soho Grand at the invitation of Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, more, and an analysis of the increasing profile of fashion in the political world, HERE

The British Fashion Council have launched their first ever ‘Pop-Up’ store to celebrate new British design talent at Bicester Village yesterday, featuring clothes from Erdem, Mark Fast, PPQ, Todd Lynn, House of Holland, Osman and Hannah Marshall, more HERE

Meanwhile Skillset’s remit is expanding to cover fashion and textiles creating one of the biggest Sector Skills Councils, more HERE

Arts and Heritage

Libraries

Following the Libraries Review, which promises to make an ‘affirmative order preventing libraries from charging for ebooks lending of any sort, including remotely’, the Booksellers Association has written to Margaret Hodge warning that the commercial book business risks being undermined by the free loading of ebooks by libraries in a letter sent to culture minister Margaret Hodge, more HERE The Booksellers Association have been joined in their protest by the Society of Authors and the Writers Guild, who have also written to La Hodge on the matter, more HERE

Visual Art

As part of its tenth anniversary celebrations, Tate Modern will host a festival of independent arts, No Soul For Sale, hosting over 60 of the world’s most innovative independent art spaces, not-for-profit organizations and artists’ collectives to take over the turbine hall, more HERE

Meanwhile Tate has appointed former Guardian and Observer marketing director Marc Sands to be director of audiences and media, congratulations to him, more HERE

Heritage

Ben Bradshaw has announced £250,000 funding for Bletchley Park Museum funding an urgent repair programme within the conservation area, more HERE

The Historic Houses Association have a lovely new website, HERE

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced a £25m increase in its annual budget for new awards to heritage projects across the UK following a rise in National Lottery ticket sales, more HERE .  They’ll get even more if we win the election.

Dance

The Dance sector has a national campaign running to get as many Parliamentary candidates as possible interested in and connected to dance, more HERE

Music

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s In Harmony music project is the subject of a specially commissioned 30-minute film to be broadcast on BBC One North West on Easter Monday, 5th April, at 3.40pm , more HERE

Cultural Learning Alliance

The Cultural Learning Alliance brings together the cultural sector including museums, film, libraries, heritage, dance, literature, new media arts, theatre, visual arts and music with the education and youth sector to promote  the vision of a stronger cultural entitlement. More HERE It sounds great to us, and there’s a lovely film of David Cameron on their website.

Museums

Congratulations to the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry, which won the 2010 Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award today! More HERE

The NMDC’s monthly newsletter is out now, read it HERE

Writing

Congratulations to British writer Rosemary Sutcliff has been awarded the major US 2010 Phoenix Award, for The Shining Company more HERE

Culture Blogs

Lord ‘jostle like a dragon’ Tebbit has his own culture blog, more HERE

Election Fever

Rumour has it the election might be called shortly. We hope that this email will continue during the campaign, although we can’t quite confirm that as yet, so watch this space. Email-wise, during the campaign Ed will be on HERE. Helen will be delighted to receive your suggested Weekly contributions on HERE.

In Parliament

Parliamentary Questions

Pricey hospitality at the DCMS HERE

Payments to the Newspaper Licensing Agency HERE

Almost 23000 people employed at the BBC HERE

Public opinions of the BBC HERE

EDMs

1228 Hospital Radio Awards HERE

1223 Digital Economy Bill HERE

1215 Licensing of Live Music HERE

1206 National Anthem and the BBC HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

Game Based Learning Conference, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner at Working Title, AOP, Getty Images, BAPLA, Video Games Hustings, City Screen, LGA Annual Culture Tourism and Sport conference, Newcastle City Library,  Great North Museum: Hancock, Telegraph digital team, Ofcom, UK Music reception, Big Society Seminar.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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Weekly Email

Guardian features Ed’s complaints as to the ‘wilful misrepresentation’ of Conservative media policy

March 10th, 2010 - 
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‘The shadow culture minister, Ed Vaizey, has denied that Conservative media policy is dictated by Rupert Murdoch and executives at his News Corporation media empire, dismissing the suggestion as “completely laughable”.

Vaizey told delegates at a Westminster Media Forum event in London that Tory policy on the BBC, in particular, has been “wilfully misrepresented”.

He singled out a column in the Guardian last week by Jonathan Freedland [HERE], which argued that the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, had decided to axe services in an attempt to prevent the Tories from making more swingeing cuts if they form the next government. Freedland also said Thompson was right to fear the Conservatives would do this because of “two words: Rupert Murdoch”.

Vaizey responded today: “If a Conservative has any kind of critique of the BBC then somehow this a ‘Sky agenda’. I noticed that in Monday’s Media Guardian James Purnell, a former BBC employee, said BBC2 should only broadcast in the evenings. Nobody has written that to understand where James Purnell is coming from you just have to understand two words: Rupert Murdoch.”

He added: “There is a legitimate debate to be had about the [size] of the BBC.” The culture secretary, Ben Bradshaw, had conceded as much, Vaizey argued.

Conservative opposition to the BBC Trust’s decision to close educational service BBC Jam demonstrated that the party did not have the corporation in its sights, he said.

“You shouldn’t lose sight of the fact the BBC has massive public support,” Vaizey said. “The idea that somehow there is any agenda to do down the BBC is completely laughable.”

Tory policy on the BBC was straightforward, he added. A Conservative government would replace the BBC Trust with an independent regulator and force it to be “more transparent about its finances”.

He said news organisations need to know how much the corporation spends on its news website in order to make judgments on how best to run their own online businesses.

Vaizey reiterated that Tory media policy is dictated by a “de-regulatory approach” but insisted he “liked Ofcom”.

The Conservative leader, David Cameron, last year set out plans to reduce Ofcom’s size and strip it of its policy-making powers.

“We felt there was a leadership vacuum from DCMS [the department of culture, media and sport] so Ofcom was driving policy. With a new and energetic Conservative government you would get leadership on media policy and Ofcom would return to its regulatory role,” Vaizey said.

He also said the Conservatives have no plans to privatise Channel 4 and defended the party’s proposals to fund rollout of high-speed broadband to rural areas with licence-fee money currently earmarked to meet the cost of digital switchover as “a perfectly sensible and intellectually coherent proposal”.

Vaizey added that the principle of using licence-fee money to fund other projects was now well-established.’

Original article HERE.

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Daily Blog

BBC Publishes Strategic Review

March 2nd, 2010 - 
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The BBC has today published its much-leaked strategy review, confirming proposals to shut down BBC 6 Music and Asian Network, and also announcing that half of the websites on BBC online will close by 2013. Among closures will be teen services Switch and Blast, with Thompson admitting Channel 4 should lead the way with these audiences. The strategic review has now been submitted to the BBC Trust for commencement of a three month consultation period. BBC Trust Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said today:

‘We welcome the general direction of this report, although we will want to test it and consider how it is delivered. We are clear it heads towards a more disciplined and sharply focused BBC… The end result should be a BBC that is genuinely distinctive, genuinely open and transparent and genuinely public service.’

Jeremy has welcomed the review as follows:

‘I am pleased that the BBC is taking a long, hard look at exactly what it should be doing, but the truth of the matter is that we need to see actions not words. Will the BBC be less expansionist? Will it think carefully about its impact on the independent sector? Above all, will it spend licence fee payers’ money on quality public service content that they want to see? Only real change will address these concerns so I hope that’s what we get.’

The review commits a higher proportion of the licence fee into quality programming in order to make ‘fewer things better’. The BBC has listed five core editorial principles – putting quality first, doing fewer things better, guaranteeing access, making the licence fee work harder and setting new boundaries.

Television

  • Capping TV sports rights spending at 9p in every licence fee pound;
  • Reduction of entertainment and comedy on BBC Four;
  • Extending CBBC finishing time until 9pm;
  • Investing £50m a year from this total into BBC Two, children’s programming and journalism.

Websites

  • Half of the BBC websites will close, including Strictly Dance Fever and Street Doctor;
  • Spending on BBC websites will be cut by 25% by 2012;
  • Monthly “click-throughs” to external sites will be doubled;
  • Fewer bespoke programme websites;
  • Defining publicly which areas of activity BBC Online will not undertake.

Radio

  • Closure of 6 Music;
  • Closure of Asian Network;
  • Radio 2 must become more distinctive with at least 50% of speech during the daytime;
  • Investment in local radio breakfast, mid-morning and drive-time shows – but shared content at other times;
  • 1Xtra and Radio 7 to be aligned more closely with their parent stations (Radio 1 and Radio 4). Radio 7 to be rebranded as Radio 4 Extra.

Worldwide

  • The commercial arm will move away from publishing magazines in the UK.
  • Will derive at least two-thirds of its revenue from outside the UK by 2015.
  • Spending on imported programmes and films will be cut by 20%

Thompson expects the plans to see an extra £600m diverted into programme-making, but broadcasting workers’ union Bectu, has said that the proposed changes could result in the loss of up to 600 jobs. General secretary, Gerry Morrissey, said:

‘These cuts are totally unnecessary and are purely politically motivated. It is obvious that the BBC is being bounced by its competitors and by the political climate ahead of the upcoming general election. It is not acceptable for the BBC to be offering up services and jobs as some kind of sacrifice ahead of the general election.’

Thompson has denied that the proposals have anything to do with the forthcoming election:

‘The proposed changes… are not a piece of politics. It is also not a blueprint of a small BBC or a BBC that is in retreat from digital… It is exactly because the media is changing so fast that we must articulate our public service mission and our values more clearly and consistently than ever before… But we also have to recognise the profound challenges facing much of commercial media. And that, while some attacks made on the BBC are destructive and baseless, others represent legitimate concern about the boundaries of what we do, and about our future public service and commercial ambitions. We need to listen more closely than we have in the past.’

You can read the full BBC Strategy Review in PDF HERE.

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News Summary: 17th February 2010

February 17th, 2010 - 
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Brit Awards 2010

It was all about the ‘fame monster’ Gaga wasn’t it really, and so, in turn, is today’s coverage. The British music industry chose to award the 23-year-old, whose “Poker Face” single was the biggest-selling song of 2009, with the gongs for International Breakthrough; International Female Solo Artist; and International Album and you can read more in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

Here’s the rest of the night’s wins:

British male solo artist Dizzee Rascal

British female solo artist Lily Allen

British breakthrough act JLS

British group Kasabian

British Album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Kasabian

British single Beat Again, JLS

International male solo artist Jay-Z

International female solo artist Lady GaGa

International breakthrough act Lady Gaga

International album The Fame, Lady GaGa

British producer Paul Epworth

Critics’ choice Ellie Goulding

Outstanding contribution to music Robbie Williams

Best Brits performance of its 30-year history Spice Girls, (1997) “Wannabe”/”Who Do You Think You Are?”

Best Brits album of 30 years (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis

Tech

Google is being threatened with legal action over the launch of its new social network, Google Buzz, amid furious claims that the service breaches users’ privacy. A week after launching the service with great fanfare and with high hopes that it could lure internet users’ attention away from Facebook and Twitter, Google finds itself embroiled in a technical and public relations nightmare. The pioneering internet company again apologised to users yesterday, and said it was working round the clock to roll out additional alterations to Buzz, on top of emergency changes imposed late last week and over the weekend.

Users revolted when they realised that their contacts could now see who they had been emailing – something that could reveal everything from private business relationships to romantic affairs. Shelly Palmer, founder of Advanced Media Ventures, has said:

“Anyone who understands the Google mindset could not have expected them to get this right… Everywhere they go, they try to apply mechanistic efficiency. They looked at Facebook and said, ‘You have to invite people? How ridiculous! We’ll just look at who you email most and hook up those people right now.’ This wasn’t a malicious attack on your privacy. It was just Google’s attempt to create a social network with no fuss.” More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

Broadcasting

SeeSaw, a new television streaming service launches online today, bringing together shows from the BBC, Channel 4 and Five on a single site. SeeSaw went live with more than 3,000 hours of content and, unlike services such as BBC’s iPlayer or Channel 4′s 4oD, which broadcast their own content, has partnerships with BBC Worldwide, Channel 4, Five and independent companies who produce shows for ITV. John Keeling, the controller of SeeSaw, said:

“It’s like having an enormous buffet. You can either just snack on it and catch up on what you’ve missed, or gorge yourself with an entire season. It’s absolutely at your fingertips and your control.”

SeeSaw is currently free and funded by advertising revenue but in future it will introduce a pay-per-view service for top US dramas and other premium content. More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

The BBC has been accused of having a “total sense of humour failure” after banning its political editor, Nick Robinson, and other senior journalists from taking part in one of the corporation’s own entertainment programmes. The extraordinary situation relates to “The Bubble”, a new show whose format involves three comedians being cut off from the news for several days in a country house with no access to any media and then being asked to distinguish between authentic and fake news items. Both ITV News and Sky News have been happy to co-operate with BBC the series and supply it with news footage. The only BBC footage to appear will be archive material, even though the series is supposed to reflect stories of the week.

A spokesman for BBC News  has said:

“We are sure The Bubble on BBC Two will be extremely funny but BBC journalists will leave it to the comedians to do the comedy.” More in The Independent HERE.

Advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority have today ruled that eight TV adverts shown during an episode of Sherlock Holmes were “excessively strident” and breached the sound levels code. This followed a complaint from a viewer that the adverts were excessively noisy compared to the surrounding programme material, reflecting a long-standing issue for some TV watchers.

The ASA upheld the viewer’s complaint, saying the volume was “not well matched to the overall sound levels of the programme” but has also noted that complaints about noisy advertisements have gone down since rules were tightened up two years ago. More in the Guardian HERE; and Independent HERE.

Music

Sir Paul McCartney has told of his hopes that the famous Abbey Road Studios could be saved after reportedly being put up for sale by owner EMI. Sir Paul, who recorded most of the Beatles’ songs at Abbey Road, told BBC’s Newsnight:

“There are a few people who have been associated with the studio for a long time who were talking about mounting some bid to save it… I sympathise with them. I hope they can do something, it’d be great.

EMI – which counts Robbie Williams and Coldplay among its artists – posted a £1.75 billion loss for the year to March 2009 in accounts earlier this month. Recent recording advances and cheaper overseas studio facilities have added competitive pressure to Abbey Road and a sale of the studios would raise much needed cash for its struggling owner. More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

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Daily News Summary

News Summary: 1st February 2010

February 1st, 2010 - 
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Julian Bellamy, head of Channel 4, has just confirmed that the broadcaster is in talks with Jonathan Ross, whose BBC contract ends in July. More in the Guardian HERE and Independent HERE. The announcement comes at a time when Channel 4 is looking to ‘fill the void after reality TV’, on which more HERE.

Today is Follow a Museum Day – over a million people already follow museums on Twitter, and today each of these is being asked to tell a friend about their museum, inviting them to follow too. The full directory of tweeting UK museums can be found HERE.

Amidst government and industry fears of an anti-switchover rebellion by fm radio listeners, Digital Radio UK, the organisation set up to drive switchover has held exploratory talks with leading retailers and manufacturers about a radio scrappage scheme wherein stores will accept analogue sets in part-exchange for new digital models.

One complementary idea being touted by senior industry executives involves sending a shipment of outmoded analogue radios to an African country, where they are one of the main sources of communication and the BBC World Service is popular. The event would generate huge publicity and could form the centrepiece of a PR campaign in the run up to switchover, when the public will be persuaded to dump their old sets. More HERE.

ITV is reported to have faced shareholder anger last night over the £15m pay package of the next chief executive, formerly of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier (as covered in our weekend summary HERE). One significant shareholder described Crozier as ‘totally unproven’, adding ‘The pity of it is one tends to associate the Royal Mail with bad management’. More in The Times HERE, whilst the Guardian discusses why ‘ad men like Crozier’ are coming to dominate television HERE.

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, has called on the Government to invest resources in all creative industries with potential, rather than just traditional business sectors. Jason Kingsley, Chairman of TIGA and CEO and Creative Director at Rebellion Studios, said:

‘Just as the Government backs sectors like the film industry and the oil industry with tax breaks, so it should invest in the games industry through Games Tax Relief. The UK Government must support the creative industries in general, and the video games sector in particular, as part of a process of rebalancing the UK economy away from an excessive dependency on financial services.’ More HERE.

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Daily News Summary

Weekly email: 14/01/10

January 18th, 2010 - 
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Here is this week’s news:
Tory Stuff
Jeremy made a major speech on the arts at the RSA’s conference on arts policy, the largest conference of its kind held in recent years. He was doing his impressive speaking-without-notes trick so no transcript to link to, but he talked about our plans to: restore lottery funds to the four original good causes, bear down on quango administration costs; philanthropy including simplifying Gift Aid and lifetime giving, and incentives to build up endowments and a better culture of asking for contributions. There’s good overview from Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian, HERE, although unfortunately there is a typo in the headline, which should say ‘Arts bureaucracy cuts proposed by Conservatives.’ Feedback on what he said and other goings on from the conference on Twitter, HERE.
Creative Industries
Digital Economy Bill
Realising that there is no way it will pass in its current form, the Government has climbed down on Clause 17 (which allows the Government to extend copyright with minimal consultation) more HERE and latest discussion from the Lords HERE. The debate rages on with Bono’s 10 ideas to make the next 10 years more interesting, including criticism of internet piracy HERE causes a storm of debate HERE and HERE
Video Games
Ed spoke at an event on video games at the RSA last night with Tom Chatfield, a critic and commentator on video games, with an excellent book out this week, Fun Inc. Why Video Games Are the First Serious Business of the 21st Century, more HERE and HERE.
Channel 4
Congratulations to C4, which has been awarded the broadcast rights for the 2012 Paralympics. It will broadcast 150 hours of coverage after winning what LOCOG described as a ‘highly competitive tender process’.  C4 tell us they feel this is a great fit with their remit commitment to cultural diversity and that ‘we’ll be throwing everything at our coverage to make it as innovative and exciting as it can be and attract the largest possible audiences.’ More HERE
Local Media
Ed spoke in yet another debate on the Local Media in Parliament this week HERE. Eight consortia have been successful in the first phase of the selection process for Independently Funded News Consortia (IFNC) pilots HERE. We oppose IFNCs as a backward step, and instead have put forward proposals for local television HERE
Broadcasting
Independent think tank Policy Exchange has published a report on the future of broadcasting HERE. The report argues that public service broadcasting needs to be radically overhauled if it is to survive in the new digital age. It calls for the BBC to place quality before ratings, and stop spending huge resources on sports rights, programmes for 16 to 35 year olds and popular entertainment, which other channels would deliver anyway. Instead of crowding out commercial schemes, the BBC management should spend up to 5% of total licence fee income on co-funding PSB programmes on other channels.
Music
Contribute to this discussion on our LinkedIn group: It’s a traditional New Year ritual for trade associations to portray their industries in the best possible light, but how is the entertainment business really doing? HERE Incidentally, any one can start a discussion on our Linked In group, so feel free.
Arts and Heritage
Arts Council
What did the Arts Council ever do to Tom Watson MP, we wonder, as he tables yet more parliamentary questions about them following the 50  -  yes 50  -  he tabled last week, and the 50-plus before Christmas, the latest from yesterday HERE the day before HERE 6th January HERE 5th January HERE
Could it be the answer to an earlier question, as reported HERE that has really got him going? 
The Arts Council has given an extra £1.2 million to the ICA, more HERE
Cultural Olympiad
DCMS advisor on Culture and former director of the Manchester International Festival Ruth Mackenzie has been appointed as the director of the Cultural Olympiad. At the same time several artistic associates have also been announced: Alex Poots, current artistic director of MIF, Martin Duncan who was joint artistic director with Mackenzie at Chichester Festival, Sir Brian McMaster, former director of the Edinburgh  International  Festival and Craig Hassall, managing director of English National Ballet  and former head of the Cultural Olympiad for the Australian Olympics more HERE.  And they all report to Tony Hall.  Sounds like a recipe for clear decision-making, then.
Philanthropy
Arts and Business report that the total figure for private sector investment in culture for 2008/09 fell from its record high in 07/08 to £654.9 million in the UK decreasing by 7% (above inflation). Investment from all three private sector sources declined from the previous year: Business investment fell by 6% to £157 million and accounts for 24% of the overall contribution from the private sector. In 08/09, investment from individuals dropped to £363 million, a 7% decrease that ends the trend of fast-paced growth that began to accelerate in 05/06. Individual giving now accounts for 55% of the total private investment received in the sector. The amount of support from Trusts & Foundations also fell from £141 million to £135 million a 7% decrease now accounting for 21% of the total private investment in the cultural sector. More HERE. Ed commented ‘These figures are disappointing and reflect the effects of the economic recession.  This is a wake-up call that we need to get our economy back on track, in order to return to the levels of private giving we enjoyed in the 1990s and 2000s.  Economic recovery is as crucial for the arts as it is for all parts of our economy’.
Heritage
The Public Accounts Committee report into Promoting Participation with the Historic Environment was published this week. Committee chair Edward Leigh MP said:
“The Department for Culture, Media and Sport gave English Heritage unrealistic targets to increase the number of visits to historic sites by people from three specific underrepresented groups. With no clear evidence of how the target levels might be achieved, English Heritage opted instead to focus on increasing its income from visitor attractions, at the expense of activities to increase participation’Full report HERE. We think this is yet another example of how Labour’s box-ticking is a misconceived approach to heritage and the arts.
The Art Fund has launched its campaign to raise £3.3 million to save the Staffordshire Hoard HERE. We wish them every success and of course will make a donation.
Libraries
Rather than staying at home and building snowmen this winter, Bloomsbury have conceived Bloomsbury Library Online to support public libraries and literacy in an innovative, experimental and socially inclusive way using existing computers and devices within the local library, internet-enabled mobile phones, or remotely from home or elsewhere with a library card. Currently offering seventy books, from forty-eight authors to 2.4 million readers through UK public libraries, we think this is great news, more HERE
West Sussex County Council also has plans to deliver 21st century library services more HERE.
Predictions for the new decade include: ‘a very strong independent sector, the growth of the e-book market and a continued fight for library campaigners are some of the predictions for next year made by figures from the retail, library and digital sides of the trade.’ according to The Bookseller, more HERE.
Archives
The National Archives Education Department has set up a Twitter feed that lets people get a unique perspective on the opening months of the Second World War. Starting from 1 January, summaries and links to Cabinet papers relating to that date in 1940 are posted – the result is a day by day view of the Second World War from the War Cabinet’s point of view, using real documents You can follow the tweets and follow the links to read the original documents capturing the decisions of the men who determined the fate of the nationHERE. For non-tweeters, you can find Cabinet Papers 1915-1978 online HERE.
Natalie Ceeney is stepping down from her post as CEO at The National Archives. Oliver Morley will be Interim CEO, the Ministry of Justice will be handling the new appointment, more HERE. We wish Natalie well for the future, she has been an outstanding leader.
Museums
The findings of an NMDC project looking at how national and regional museums work together was launched this week, more HERE.The NMDC has also published Museums’ Deliver demonstrating the wide-ranging social and economic importance of museums in the UK. Full report HERE.
Kids in Museums have launched their manifesto today, highlighting the need for flexible family tickets HERE.
In America, is it time to start selling some works to balance the books in museums and galleries? More HERE and the piece caused such a storm there is a response HERE.
City of Culture
Birmingham will bid to be the UK’s first city of culture more HERE.
NCA
The National Campaign for the Arts have a lovely new website HERE.
Opera and Ballet
The Royal Opera House is the first big arts institution to join the tickets for troops scheme, more HERE. Dance, as someone in a cheese shop once said, is ‘staggeringly popular in the manor squire’ more HERE.
New Year’s Honours - Errors and Omissions
Thank you for pointing out the following omissions from our New Year’s Honours List – a knighthood for the brilliant architect David Chipperfield, CBEs for the outstanding Natalie Ceeney, soon to be ex head of the National Archives, the great  singer Sarah Connolly, the awesome architect George Ferguson, and an OBE for the superb Julia Fawcett at the Lowry. Also the Director of Heart n Soul is Mark Williams (not Christopher Williams, a songwriter who works with them who received an OBE). Slapped wrists all round
In Parliament
Parliamentary Questions
More questions from Tom Watson on the Arts Council HERE
DCMS spending on travel costs for Ministers and Officials HERE
EDMs
EDM 583 – Technology Company Censorship HERE
Digital Economy Bill
The Bill is in the committee stage in the Lords – Hansard can be read HERE
Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen
PayPoint, the London Film Museum, VAGA, NMDC, Orange, Anthony Browne, RSA, V&A, Kids in Museums, NCA, Ideas Tap, The State of the Arts Conference, the Olympic site, BBC News Festival, OC&C Media Conference.
Ed Vaizey
Shadow Arts Minister
Jeremy Hunt
Shadow Culture Secretary
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News Summary: January 14th 2010

January 14th, 2010 - 
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Google’s announcement yesterday that it would no longer censor its Chinese service was sparked by a cyber attack it believes to be aimed at political surveillance of Chinese human rights activists. China responded this morning by claiming to be resolutely opposed to hacking and itself a victim of cyber-attacks. In the statement posted on the state council information office website, cabinet spokesman Wang Chen also stubbornly reminded companies of their need to abide by internet controls, citing their ‘social responsibilities’ to ‘guide’ opinion. The remarks did not mention Google directly. More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; Telegraph HERE and FT HERE.

In a report on public service broadcasting, published by Policy Exchange today, there are calls to abolish the BBC Trust and to privatise Channel 4. The report says the BBC has an ‘obsession’ with chasing ratings, and spends a ‘disproportionately high amount’ on pursuing the favour of the 16-35 age group. Money spent on imported US television shows and sports rights at the expense of investment in quality home-grown content also came under criticism. As for Channel 4, this should be privately owned and given an enhanced public service role, its PSB commitment to be monitored by the new Public Service Content (PSC) Trust, which would also monitor the BBC. ITV and Five should be allowed to opt out of PSB commitments completely by 2012 says the report. More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Telegraph HERE; and FT HERE.

Analysis of the relative performance in the ratings war of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five in 2009 can be found HERE.

Ruth Mackenzie, currently an adviser on cultural policy to the DCMS, is to become Director of the Cultural Olympiad. More HERE.

The late Harold Pinter is back under the spotlight as Antonia Fraser’s memoir of her life with him focuses on their marriage, but is thought to paints a revealing portrait of the dramatist too. More HERE.

Alain de Botton writes about ‘the enlightening bridge between art and work’, calling for ‘an art that can proclaim the intelligence, peculiarity, beauty and horror of the modern workplace and, not least, its extraordinary claim to be able to provide us… with the principal source of life’s meaning.’ More HERE

And finally… ‘Yes we can!’ - The Musical! A musical about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is to premier in Berlin this weekend, to include love songs by the president to his wife Michelle and duets with Hillary Clinton. More HERE

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Weekly email 17-12-09

December 17th, 2009 - 
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Here is this week’s news.  There’s some stuff not in here, but that’s just because we’re saving it for our Christmas special!

Creative Industries

Video Games

Labour MP Tom Watson has suggested that the BBC could ‘really help’ small developers. He suggests that the corporation could allow developers to showcase applications or games on the BBC website, with the studio then able to look at commercial routes as well. More HERE.

Two more games courses have been accredited by Skillset, putting them among the ranks of the UK’s elite games training grounds. Congratulations to Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Abertay more HERE.

Ed has been interviewed by Midlife Gamer, along with Don Foster and Sion Simon: HERE.

Children and Advertising

Ed Balls has published a report on: ‘The Impact of the Commercial World on Children’s Wellbeing’. Amongst its findings, the report says that the commercial world provides children with important opportunities in terms of entertainment, learning, creativity and cultural experience. Full report HERE. Press release HERE. .

The Advertising Association has published a response, HERE with chief executive Tim Lefroy saying: ‘This is a measured and thoughtful review of the role the commercial world has in society and particularly for children and young people.  We are playing a full role in various initiatives as part of our responsible approach to marketing to children’

Online Piracy

YouTube are considering offering subscription services that allow users to watch major new TV shows and films online. Some broadcasters including Channel 4 and Five have already forged deals with the website to show full-length programmes online, Youtube is now considering paid options as well. More HERE.

Australia introduces web filters that restrict access to criminal content, HERE. As you can imagine twitter is not happy, HERE.

Online security group Detica is launching a system that can monitor illegal filesharing over Virgin Media’s Network. It has dismissed concerns that it could be used to identify and spy on individual users, saying ‘customer privacy is at the very heart of this’ more HERE.

Mobile Networks

In Norway and Scandinavia the first 4G mobile network becomes available, HERE. 4G is 10 times faster than the best mobile internet in this country.

BBC Worldwide

Mark Thompson has hit back at calls to sell of Worldwide, saying it will be an ‘empty vessel’ if it is sold. More HERE and HERE.  We now have absolutely no idea what the BBC actually wants to do with Worldwide…sell it? keep it? sell part of it?

TV

Channel 4 and TalkTalk have announced they will join Canvas, the proposed venture with the BBC, ITV, Five and BT to deliver television programmes and other online content via broadband more HERE. We think this great news.

Almost a third of the entire country tuned in to watch the final of X-factor, well over half of the total TV audience, HERE.

Music

Rage Against the Machine was outselling X Factor Winner Joe McElderry in the midweek sales figures, more HERE. More than 500,000 people have joined a campaign on Facebook encouraging people to by the 1992 single Killing in the Name in an attempt to upset Simon Cowell’s domination of the Christmas charts.

Film

The BSAC have published a report into Creativity, Competitiveness and Enterprise more HERE. which calls on the Government to stimulate competition, create a UK silicon valley liberate public service content from TV and create a copyright regime that facilitates decentralised creativity and access to content in the broader ecology. HERE. This is an interesting report which we will be looking at closely.

Pinewood studios have announced that they will open a studios in Malaysia more HERE.

Fashion

Good news from Burberry which has said it will show in London again at the A/W 2010 shows in February, more HERE.

The Guardian Fashion Awards for the year are out HERE. And no, we have no idea what that thing on Madonna’s head is either.

Radio

Made in Manchester’s second online drama with the Indy is online now HERE. We think this project is an interesting development which opens up new radio platforms other than the BBC.

Awards Season

Just starting to warm up, with the Golden Globe nominations out. Congratulations to British nominees Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt more HERE.

Arts and Heritage

Visual Art

Ed has been interviewed by Art Forum on our arts policies, HERE.

Film and Archives

The BBC and the British Library have brought together their collection of audiovisual archives to make them more widely available to the public HERE. Well done to both.

Books

A new website plans to use commuters’ music players to revive the art of the short story by selling audiobooks of work by famous writers. More HERE. Very good idea.

And Finally

Ed was interviewed by the BBC’s Hard Talk this week, talking about culture and media policies and the wider Conservative agenda more HERE.  He vigorously denied he was posh.

Win a free cultural calendar on CultureLabel  HERE

In Parliament

DCMS spending on public relations HERE

£1,100 on departmental photo shoots HERE

Departmental meetings with the music industry HERE

The cost of DCMS departmental away days HERE

Government Art Collection loans to public galleries HERE

Funding to ACE over the last five years HERE

1700 days lost to sickness at the DCMS HERE

Estimates for funding to the good causes in the years to 2015 HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

ITV, Local Government Association libraries conference, Loyd Grossman, St Mary’s Tower Gloucester, Gloucester Folk Museum, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester Museum (yes, we were in Gloucester), Tribal Education, Sally Greene… and George Osborne visited David Chipperfield and Neues Museum in Berlin and also met with Chairmen of three National Museums.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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Weekly email 10-12-09

December 10th, 2009 - 
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Here is this week’s news:

Pre Budget Report

The Pre-Budget report, which you can download HERE, had little good news for anyone in the arts or creative industries. Buried in the detail (page 194) was confirmation that the DCMS resource budget would remain pretty much the same over the next two years and its capital budget would be cut from £0.9bn to £0.6bn.

Alistair Darling has also decided to press ahead with the phone line levy which we think will actually kill off private sector investment in superfast broadband HERE.

The film tax credit will be adjusted slightly to correct a ‘quirk’ in the legislation which restricts the available tax credit in an unintended way if there is increased UK spend in the second or later accounting periods full details HERE.

Alistair Darling has rejected a tax break from video games developers, as suggested in Digital Britain HERE. Ed has already said that we are actively considering a tax break for the industry, though we are also looking at other alternatives.

Taking a leaf out of David Cameron’s book they also announced a streamlining of quangos. This will include “rationalising up to a third of DCMS ALBs (arms length bodies), including streamlining ten DCMS advisory bodies and bringing forward plans for merging the UK Film Council and the British Film Institute” more HERE.

Creative Industries

Video Games

Tom Watson MP has called on ELSPA and TIGA to begin ‘forming an idea’ of a UK Games Council that would ‘run along the lines of the UK Film Council’ more HERE. This is something we have long advocated. We think this could be done by widening the remit of the UK Film Council, which would both encourage co-operation between these two sectors, and avoid the creation of a new quango.

Google

An excellent analysis of the implications of the Google book deal vis all creative content on the internet, and Google’s wider position in the global media world HERE.

Fashion

Congratulations to the winners at last night’s British Fashion Awards last night, though we hear that everyone was falling for Karen Elson, more HERE. Elson presented British Grace Coddington, creative director of American Vogue with the ‘fashion creator’ award.

Ahead of the awards, the British Fashion Council released their power 25 list more HERE

Ofcom

Ofcom’s draft Annual Plan for 2010/11 is out, more HERE. It includes three key areas including consumer and citizen, competition, and infrastructure and spectrum. Their Consumer Experience Report, which has helped shape these priorities is also published HERE… need to find a link

Music

The number of people using personalised online radio services such as Spotify and Last FM is growing rapidly, according to RAJAR research: 4.5 million people used such services last month, up from 3.9 million in may and 2.9 million in October last year, more HERE.

TV

Greg Dyke gave the annual Royal Television Society Christmas lecture last night. He called for the ‘unduly slow and bureaucratic’ BBC Trust to be abolished and its powers passed to Ofcom or a new body. He also said that he thought salaries across the TV industry were now too high, and that ITV and C4 have the opportunity to address this as they appoint new chief executives.  More HERE.  Given that Greg is chairman of our creative industries task force his views are particularly interesting, obviously.

There is a good story in the Telegraph on the future of local television HERE.

BBC Worldwide

The government has included BBC Worldwide in the portfolio assets it is considering selling and is urging the corporation to ‘look more widely at the options for greater financial and operational separation, including a sale or partial sale’ more HERE.

On the blog this week

What Lord Putnam would have said, had he been able to be there for the second reading of the Digital Economy Bill, HERE.

Arts and Heritage

Archives

A new archives strategy has been developed, consulted and published jointly by the National Archives and the MLA. More HERE.  Congratulations to both organizations on this, which we think it is both clear and comprehensive and note that these two organizations have done all of this in less time than it’s taken not to have a library review.

Libraries

Stirring stuff on the Government’s spectacular failure to organise a drinks party in the proverbial brewery on libraries from Rachel Cooke in the Guardian HERE, and her longer piece in the spring HERE. We did write to her at the time to point out that she’d over looked Ed’s brilliant speech on the matter HERE. She seems to have overlooked his barnstorming performance at last week’s Review launch too. What’s a Shadow Minister to do to get the attention of the Guardian’s library champion you might wonder?

Meanwhile, thanks to an agreement brokered by the MLA, libraries are to get high speed broadband access, more HERE.

Music

Gustavo Dudamel has taken over as music director of the L.A. Philharmonic. The Venezuelan musician has attracted a level of media attention over the past few years normally only reserved for pop-stars, the kind of thing can cause concern in classical music circles. However, the New Yorker points out that: “notions of the irreconcilability of commerce and art smack of college-dorm Marxism, and run counter to the spirit of Beethoven, Verdi, and Mahler, who addressed themselves passionately to the general public.” To read the article in full HERE

RBS Art Collection

RBS have given in to pressure and agreed to open its art collection to the public. Thought to be one of Scotland’s finest private art collections, some of its most outstanding works will be lent to galleries and community arts projects. More HERE. We welcome this news, although we would like to see more British companies, including banks, putting their arts philanthropy at the centre of what they do: It is part of their contribution to wider society. Credit Suisse is currently running a US ad campaign which highlights how proud they are of supporting the New York Philharmonic in the current economic climate, more HERE. We would like to see more UK companies doing similar things.

Management of the Crown Estate

The Treasury Sub-Committee has announced a new inquiry into the administration and expenditure of the Crown Estate. The inquiry will look at how effectively the Crown Estate Commissioners are rising to the challenges they face including, for example, the development of renewable energy, and the extent to which they are achieving their objectives to earn a surplus for the benefit of the UK taxpayer, and enhance the value of their estates in each of their four business areas: The Urban Estate (commercial and residential property in London and elsewhere): The Marine Estate (includes 55% of the UK’s foreshore, and almost all of the seabed out to the 12 mile nautical limit), The Rural Estate  (agricultural land, forests, and residential and commercial property in England, Scotland and Wales), Windsor Estate (includes the Royal Park) more HERE.

Turner Prize

Congratulations to painter Richard Wright, winner of this year’s Turner Prize, more HERE

And Finally

The Telegraph have recognised Ed for distinguished services to the arts, more HERE.

In Parliament

Parliamentary Questions

Forthcoming information on PR spending at the DCMS HERE

£126,000 on entertainment at the DCMS HERE

Visits to Museums and Galleries in Yorkshire and the Humber HERE

Just half of DCMS Parliamentary Questions are answered on time HERE

Early Day Motions

EDM 323 – Save Our Sound Campaign HERE

EDM 374 – Museums, Galleries, Councils and Gardens HERE

EDM 403 – Free Broadband Access in Towns HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

Goldman Sachs(!), Turner Prize, Dell, MLA, launch of all-party group for Ethical Fashion, London International Festival of Theatre, Local Government Association, Munira Mirza, Serpentine Gallery, Matthew Freud, Conservative Arts and Creative Industries Network generously hosted by Rory Coonan, Turner and the Masters at the Tate, Ingenious and Microsoft Radio Spectrum seminar, Creative and Cultural Skills, BFI, Deloitte, Avatar premiere, Jingle Bell Ball, British Library, Charlie Caminda from Ludorum, new chairman of BBC Worldwide, Carphone Warehouse, V&A, Independent Publishers Forum, Hutchison Whampoa, Selina Scott, Google, Bollywood Festival at the Reel Cinema in Loughborough.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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