Creative Industries: Creating Jobs and Productivity Growth

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to make a short contribution in the gap. I congratulate my noble friend Lady Thornton, whose impressive and comprehensive maiden speech I had the pleasure of listening to from the vantage point of the Woolsack. I wish to say to today’s three maiden speakers how excellent they all were; they will all feel a lot better for having done it. Their speeches were all made remarkably soon after their introductions, and the House will be richer for their contributions in future.

Before Christmas, we had a debate with the same title as today’s, with the slight difference that in place of the words “creative industries” were the words “science and technology”. I therefore rise to make just one point: creativity and the industries to which it gives rise can be found everywhere—in maths as well as music. Incidentally, I cannot resist endorsing everything that was said about trying to improve the ability of our musicians, youth orchestras and so on to tour in Europe. Creativity is just as great in both, so I hope the House will not artificially think there is a separation between the debate we are having today on the creative industries and the one we had before Christmas on science and technology. As I say, the creativity is one and the same.

Mention has been made of artificial intelligence. AI is the product of human creativity, so it is all the more important that we do not let AI exploit human creativity. I hope that, when people think about the effect of the creative industries on the economy of the country, they will also see that the arts and sciences are two sides of the same coin. We must do everything we possibly can to support both.