Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lisa Nandy and James Frith

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr James Frith (Bury North) (Lab)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to ensure the creative industries sector plan supports the growth of live music.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)]

May I take a moment to echo the shadow Minister’s comments about Diogo Jota? We received the heartbreaking news before we came into the Chamber that he tragically lost his life at just 28 years of age. The whole House and my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) in particular will be heartbroken by this news, and I want to send our sympathies to his friends and family on behalf of the whole House.

The whole House should be proud of the creative industries sector plan. We worked on it with the creative industries as a whole and with Members across the House. I am really pleased that we have a transformative music growth package worth up to £30 million in that sector plan that more than doubles annual funding.

[Mr Frith]

The Secretary of State will know that Oasis kicks off their world tour this week, and I am proud that their first English gig is in the borough of Bury—a brilliant moment for Manchester’s world-class live music scene. Hosting the five sold-out shows with 72,000 fans a night brings the band 50 million quid, but it brings serious local pressure on licensing, safety, transport and clean-up, yet Bury receives no funding for those additional costs. The as yet unconfirmed suggested £25,000 community fund barely scratches the surface. While we are proud to host, should the legacy of such a global event really just be the prep and clear-up costs? Will the Secretary of State and her Department ensure that communities like mine see a fairer share of the benefit and not just the burden of hosting major cultural events?

[Lisa Nandy]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is absolutely fitting that Oasis are returning to Greater Manchester, and Bury is a very fitting venue, not least because my hon. Friend has long championed live music and also indulged—or should I say inflicted?—live music on many of us for years. He will know that this Government are keen to ensure that the communities feel the benefit. In particular, the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism has been working hard with industry to introduce a levy on arena and stadium tickets to ensure that we support small venues and help more artists tour nationally. The arts and music in particular are an ecosystem, which we are determined to rebuild after 14 years of neglect.

Football Governance Bill [Lords]

Debate between Lisa Nandy and James Frith

2nd reading
Monday 28th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

No, I will not take the intervention, because I think a period of reflection and a bit of humility might be welcome from the Conservatives. They are embarrassing themselves. It is about time they listened and reflected on how this issue is perceived by millions of fans across the country.

We should be ashamed that it has taken so long to get to this Bill. It has been 14 years since parliamentarians first called for urgent change. It has been five years since Bury FC collapsed, sending shockwaves through English football. It has been four years since the European super league forced politicians to end years of violent indifference. It has been three years since the Crouch review called time on a system that has let fans down for two long, and it has been two years since the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew) introduced the Bill to Parliament, calling it a landmark moment for fans.

[Mr James Frith (Bury North) (Lab)]

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I congratulate the Secretary of State on bringing the Bill to the House. I hope the House will join me in congratulating Bury FC, the Mighty Shakers, for their historic first promotion since the club’s no-fan-fault eviction from the football league. We love a comeback in Bury, and know all too well of the devastating impact when football clubs forgo good ownership and standards. The Government are right to deliver on their promise of an independent football regulator; that promise was a consequence, in no small part, of the trauma we experienced. Will my right hon. Friend support my call for the new regulator’s home to be in Bury?

[Lisa Nandy]

My hon. Friend is a big fan of a comeback himself, as this House knows. I too declare an interest: my stepdad was a lifelong season ticket holder at Gigg Lane. I know that I would be speaking for him, were he still alive, in thanking my hon. Friend for the tireless work he did while the Conservative Government stood by and did absolutely nothing as his club was allowed to collapse. My hon. Friend worked tirelessly with fans in the community, and has been able to throw open the doors of Gigg Lane to fans again, so I am grateful to him for that.

The time for inaction is over. We have known for so long that for English football to prosper, it must be made sustainable. That is what the Bill does. We promised that, and we are doing it. We ask everybody who cares about the future of football to back our fans, our game, and the Bill.

Crown Post Offices: Franchising

Debate between Lisa Nandy and James Frith

Thursday 10th January 2019 Westminster Hall

[Lisa Nandy (Wigan) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered franchising of Crown Post Offices and the effect on high streets and local communities.

I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Just before Christmas, we learned that 74 Crown post offices faced closure or franchising to a retail branch, including my local one in Wigan. Taken alongside the 150 that have already been closed or franchised, that represents a staggering loss of 60% of the network in only five years. Crown post offices might be a small part of the overall network, but they are significant, historically accounting for between 10% and 20% of overall profits.

Many of us in the Chamber remember the anger when post offices were closed under the previous Labour Government. We should have learned then that the Post Office is important to the people of this country: it is our asset, we own it and we are proud of it. When the coalition sold off Royal Mail, two thirds of the public were strongly opposed. But here we are, and once again we have been cut out of the consultation.

The Post Office says that it has been consulting, but there is every reason to believe that those consultations are nothing more than a sham. The 2017 wave of closures was announced before Ministers had even bothered to respond to their own consultation, in which 75,000 people had urged them to think again. When the Aberdeen office was franchised, WHSmith advertised for new counter staff—at what was described as the “fantastic” level of the minimum wage—while the consultation was still going on and before any consultation with trade union representatives about terms and conditions.

[James Frith (Bury North) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument. Does she agree that, as with our argument for postal workers, we demand better working conditions, pay and prospects in public assets that perform well? Does she agree that modern post offices can give more service to the public, but that that must not mean less for the workers in them?

[Lisa Nandy]

I could not agree more, and I know that my hon. Friend is a tremendous champion of that workforce in his Bury constituency. That point goes to the heart of how a publicly owned service should set the standard for how we treat our workers and our customers. I absolutely agree with him.