Oral Answers to Questions

Michael Fabricant Excerpts

Thursday 9th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Come on folks, or we will not get anybody else in. Let us help each other.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Everyone is waiting for me!

[Mr Speaker]

Well, not quite.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lucy Frazer]

The hon. Lady rightly highlights the impact gambling can have on some vulnerable people. This is the most thorough review of gambling laws since the Gambling Act 2005 was passed, and we need to get it right so that our regulation is not just fit for the digital age but protects those who are vulnerable. We are looking at the best available evidence, including from the 16,000 submissions to our call for evidence, and we will be publishing our findings very shortly.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to help expand the film and television production industry; and if she will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lucy Frazer)]

The Government are committed to supporting our world-leading broadcasters and film and television industries. This includes ensuring that public service content is easy to find on a wide range of TV platforms; delivering our UK global screen fund, which is investing £21 million in the international growth of independent screen productions across the UK; and continuing to support the screen sector’s tax reliefs, which provided more than £1 billion in support in the last financial year.

[Michael Fabricant]

Back in 1982, at the Oscars, Colin Welland said, “The British are coming!” Do you know what? The British have come. I understand that—[Interruption.] You are making me laugh, Mr Speaker. I understand that, by next year, we will have more film stages in the UK than in Hollywood. Will my right hon. and learned Friend continue to support the British film industry, which generates so many US dollars for the British economy?

[Mr Speaker]

That was longer than “Ben-Hur”.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Selous]

I am grateful to the Father of the House for reminding us of that important fact and of what the Church has done in the past, and I hope he will be equally supportive of what our right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom) is doing with her fantastic initiative on family hubs. That is an important continuation of that early work.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

7. If he will meet the Lord Bishop of Lichfield to discuss outreach work in that diocese.

[Andrew Selous]

I would be delighted to meet Michael Ipgrave, the new Lord Bishop of Lichfield, and I look forward to doing so very much indeed.

[Michael Fabricant]

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. In fact, I was present in the other place when the now Lord Bishop of Lichfield, Michael Ipgrave, was introduced. We have many outreach projects in Lichfield. There is the St Michael’s church project, which has set up a film club that meets every month, and it offers a meal and a warm space. There is “Burntwood Be A Friend” and so many others. Is there any manner by which different dioceses can learn from each other?

[Andrew Selous]

I thank my hon. Friend for his continuous support for not just the cathedral, but the whole diocese of Lichfield. He makes an excellent point about sharing best practice. Dare I say it, but in public life and in government, we often do not do that as well as we could, and it would be good if the Church could show the way and lead as an example in that area. He is absolutely right.