Intellectual Property Bill [Lords]

Debate between Ian Paisley and Iain Wright

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for outlining the provisions in the Bill.

Intellectual property matters, and it is growing in importance in the modern economy. Britain will pay its way in the world, create wealth and provide prosperity and higher living standards for all her citizens not through a race to the bottom and by trying to undercut the rest of the world on wage rates and employment rights, but by emphasising the importance of knowledge, creativity and innovation. That is certainly true of our creative industries. As the CBI said in its recent report:

“Our culture and creativity is at the forefront of the UK’s global appeal”.

Our fashion industry is worth almost £21 billion. As the House can see, I am a leading ambassador of that industry. We have the largest broadcasting hub in Europe. Global successes such as “Downton Abbey” would not have been made here and would not have provided jobs in the UK and export success for this country had it not been for the strong IP framework.

Britain boasts one of the world’s largest music industries. It generates £3.5 billion for the UK economy and provides more than 100,000 jobs. In four of the past five years, British artists were the highest selling artists in the world. One in eight albums sold anywhere on earth are by British artists. It is particularly apt that we are discussing this matter today, because I understand that today is blue Monday, which is apparently the most miserable day of the year. Right hon. and hon. Members will know that the highest selling 12-inch record of all time was “Blue Monday” by New Order. I know that the Minister is a fan. I can see him now in the Hacienda in Manchester, with a wide-eyed stare, dancing to “Blue Monday”.

The UK has the fastest growing digital economy in the G20. Our video games industry is worth £1 billion a year and is growing at a rate of 6.5% per annum.

The UK film industry goes from success to success. It supports almost 120,000 jobs in Britain and contributes £4.6 billion to our GDP. In the past few years, the global film industry produced 42 blockbuster films—that is a film with a budget of more than $100 million. Of those 42 films, 24 were produced in Pinewood or Shepperton studios. That is a fantastic achievement for our country and something of which the House should be proud. I am particularly pleased that the new “Star Wars” film is being filmed here. I hope that it will be more like “The Empire Strikes Back” than “The Phantom Menace”. The recent success of “12 Years a Slave” again shows the enduring quality of the British film industry.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

Will the hon. Gentleman also plug “Game of Thrones”, which is filmed in Northern Ireland and is one of the most successful HBO offerings on television?

[Mr Wright]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. In the creative industries, and in industry as a whole, there are incredibly important hubs across the United Kingdom. He mentions the film industry in Northern Ireland and there are other examples, such as the great video games cluster in Dundee. There are pockets across our country where creativity and industry are booming.

The UK publishing sector is bigger than our pharmaceutical industry and reaches across all aspects of our economic life. The book market in the UK is the fifth largest in the world and is growing. Every year, 120,000 new book titles are published, including academic journals, titles that tie in with TV or film rights, novels and biographies.