King’s Speech

Lord Sarfraz Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sarfraz (Con)]

My Lords, I have no doubt that all noble Lords have seen “KPop Demon Hunters”. It is the most-watched original film in Netflix’s history and is of course centred around K-pop—Korean popular music—which is now a $10-billion industry for Korea. On the back of it, Korean dramas, food, cosmetics and fashion are all thriving.

Korea is not alone. It is just one of several emerging cultural superpowers. When we get home tonight, a billion people will have watched a Turkish drama this evening; every night, a billion people watch a Turkish drama. Turkey is now the world’s largest producer of television episodes. In a town called Mardin, more than a million hotel nights were booked last year just because it featured in one Turkish drama. Nigeria’s Nollywood produces more films than Hollywood and employs 1.5 million Nigerians. Finally, China is now leading in micro-dramas. These episodes, which are two minutes long, can be watched on a bus or on the Tube, and an entire 60-episode series is shot in 10 days for $300,000. It is a $7-billion industry.

None of this is happening by accident. These are results of a deliberate state strategy. The Turkish Government subsidise these productions, which promote their culture, by $100,000 an episode. The Korean Government are opening cultural centres all around the world. Meanwhile, we are retreating. For centuries, we have been the world’s leading exporter of ideas, stories, music, art, film and education, but today we are dismantling that influence. The British Council is shutting offices all over the world. The British Council’s library in Chennai has sold all its books and is shutting down. Our programme to teach English in Italy, which has been running for 80 years, is shutting down. We have stopped thinking of culture as a strategic export.

There is no reference to culture and the creative industries in His Majesty’s most gracious Speech. But this year, 2026, is a great year because, after 20 years, the next James Bond will be cast. I hope that the Minister can assure the House that this year projecting British cultural influence will once again be at the heart of our soft-power strategy.