Live Music

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, for this very well-timed debate as we head into the peak summer season of live music across the nation, which brings investment, jobs and joy to so many people. We had a powerful reminder of that on the Tube this weekend: I was on my way back from the Bad Bunny concert in Tottenham and ran into fans who were coming from Take That at West Ham, Harry Styles at Wembley and Lily Allen at the O2. Like a series of rivers eddying, we all met. It could have been a hot and bothered day on the Underground, but everyone was in such good heart. As the noble Baroness, Lady Hyde, said, music is good for the soul.

The lady who sat next to us at Bad Bunny had come all the way from Italy, especially to see him and Harry Styles earlier in the week, and my noble friend Lord Vaizey will be pleased to know that my parents travelled to KOKO just last night—they are much cooler than me. As the noble Lord said, Harry Styles’s record-breaking 12-night residency at Wembley is estimated to have brought more than £1 billion to our economy. By my calculation, with just another 40 nights we can close the funding gap in the defence investment plan.

Music makes a huge contribution to our economy, so how can we help it to do more? Well, we can celebrate it. I know that the Minister is as enthusiastic as I am for the UNESCO Living Heritage inventory. Will she ensure that lots of live music and cultural practices are enrolled on that, from sea shanties to short pipes, from Eisteddfodau to evensong?

We have heard a lot about the pipeline—artists, venues and the classroom—as the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, rightly pointed out. Music venues are closing, as the noble Lord, Lord Watson, said, at a rate of two a week. Of the 34 venues Oasis played at the start of their career, only 11 remain. If Manchesterism is to mean anything, it must surely be about arresting that decline.

The noble Lord, Lord Brennan, mentioned that, when the Government introduced the voluntary levy, they would look at whether it reached 50% of venues by this summer. In fact, the deadline was this Tuesday. Can the Minister say whether the Government will begin that assessment, and if they will make it public? Will they look in earnest at the agent of change proposals that have been advanced repeatedly by my noble friend Lady McIntosh, and by others?

Will the Government look again at the impact of their tax hikes? The Music Venue Trust’s annual report shows that the Government’s changes to national insurance and business rates shrank the workforce in grass-roots music venues by 19%—that is 6,000 jobs. Will they protect artists themselves? At a lunch earlier this week with the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, the noble Baroness, Lady Gill, and others, we heard how AI is already making it harder for songwriters and musicians. As the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, said, there is no substitute for real music.

I hope the noble Baroness will listen to the many good ideas that have come from this debate to help ensure that music continues to move our soul, our economy and our culture.