Live Music

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, this is proving to be a passionate debate and no wonder—music has the power to stir emotions, lift the spirits and uplift the soul. More prosaically, as we have heard, it can create jobs and boost the economy, so I add my congratulations to MP4’s guitarist, the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, on securing this highly relevant debate.

I will limit my remarks to two main issues. The first is the crucial importance of encouraging music in schools, which the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, and others have already talked about. Being able to play a musical instrument is a great gift and while the player may never get to pursue a lucrative career in music, playing in amateur bands and orchestras is rewarding in many other ways and it has been shown that making music together can provide a much more constructive alternative for children to joining a different sort of gang.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s charitable efforts to gift instruments to children in some schools has been hugely successful. It is the ownership—being able to play when they want—that makes all the difference, but he can only reach so far. The London Music Fund is doing what it can, but I encourage the Government to plead with orchestras, musicians and manufacturers to get involved in trying to ensure that children have the chance to make music. In recent times, it has tended to be the prerogative of those receiving a private education or private tuition—hence many of the big names on today’s music scene: Ed Sheeran, for instance, and Florence of Florence and the Machine; they benefited from a private education. Now we need to spread it.

My second point, and I am running out of time, is that we need to deal with the EU obstacles that are still being put in front of musicians. What are the Government doing?