(1 month ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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Yes, all the agencies will be engaged to the fullest possible extent. As the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee said, we will bend over backwards and do everything we possibly can to ensure that this issue gets resolved as soon as humanly possible; I do not want to say when that will be, because I simply do not know. If the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) would like to pass on the details of the chief executive of WHS Plastics, I am very happy to have a call with them, and with others in the supply chain, later this week. It is often not just individual companies, but the whole supply chain that is affected. As for Tigger, I seem to recall that the final line in the song is:
“the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I’m the only one!”
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Widnes and Halewood (Derek Twigg) for securing this urgent question, and the Minister for coming to the Dispatch Box. Jaguar Land Rover is a valued employer in Wolverhampton North East and an iconic British brand, so the disruption to production and the impact on the wider supply chains have caused much concern. What action is being taken to protect businesses and supply chains from ransomware and cyber-attacks?
(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberI am grateful for the comments about my tie. I would say that it is understated compared to some of the other ties I have worn, so I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his commendation on my sartorial elegance. But he is wrong about YouTube. YouTube is one of the streaming services and people are remunerated. One could argue that they should be remunerated more, but if people are breaching copyright, that is an offence and it needs to be pursued. Record labels are pretty keen on doing so on behalf of their artists, but, as I say, YouTube is one of the streaming outlets.
I welcome the Minister’s statement and his work along with the Government. We will now be among world leaders in supporting our creative industries, especially on streaming remuneration. Will he outline how he will ensure the changes fairly benefit all artists, including legacy performers, session musicians and those outside major labels? What steps will be taken to enforce industry-wide implementation, especially if voluntary measures fall short?
The argument for doing this is partly because all musicians simply do not earn enough to make a living. That is the truth of the matter. Having 12 million streamings might equate to earning a theoretical amount of money, but the musician will not earn that amount because it will be diluted by the various processes it goes through—the money the agent takes and all the rest of it. Maybe that is why so many artists have produced songs about poverty—even Destiny’s Child, with “Bills, Bills, Bills”. It has been an obsession for many artists. There is sometimes the impression that an artist, in music or in any other creative industry, can only be really good if they have struggled a bit, but the truth is that we want people to be able to make a living out of their creative industry. A key part of being a Labour Government is being able to deliver that.