Speeches by Bryant.

“No, I would disagree. Last time I was before the Committee, I think I said that we need to have a mixed economy here, where of course there is inward investment. I want us to remain the best place in the world to make films and high-end television. I would say to our American, Canadian and other allies—in fact, I would…”

“If I may, there is a slightly previous question to that one: how do we make sure that public service broadcasters in the UK are able to compete in a world where the cost of making an hour of high-end television is more like £4 million, rather than £1 million? Are there efficiencies that can be driven forward that make …”

“I am very painfully aware that it is one thing to make a film and another matter to get it in front of eyes and actually make a living out of it. That depends on distribution and a whole series of different things. Do we have enough cinemas? Do we have cinemas that know how to market? Do we have distributors that are a…”

“That has already existed.”

“For instance, we are moving on R&D. We are not completely scrapping the concept of R&D and writing a whole new version, but later on this year we will produce an answer that I think leans more into a version of what the Select Committee has said about it. On the apprenticeship levy, likewise: it is a well-made point th…”

“Erasmus+ is obviously where we are engaged. In our relationship with the EU, we are trying to be as rational as we possibly can. Where there are significant financial advantages and economic advantages to us and where we can strengthen that relationship, we will, but sometimes it is a question of money and sometimes it…”

“Haha! Good try. Well, what tax relief would you put forward?”

“He’s very good, isn’t he?”

“Thank you. Can I go now?”

“I think I heard you welcoming that investment—it did not sound like a welcome, but anyway. Some of the skills policy area is obviously not ours. It is the Department for Education’s. The Department has had its spending review and it has to make decisions about how it can advance in this sphere as well. I have spoken re…”

“Obviously, our sector plan is part of a wider industrial strategy, so we are mirroring the process in other industries as well. With another hat on, I have responsibility for space. Space is included in the advanced manufacturing sector, and there is a similar criticism there. You are absolutely right that we need to e…”

“It would have to respect copyright completely. The idea is that this would be effectively an answer to the licensing question. How do you get to a place where people can license, in both senses of the word: “license” as in “allow”, and “license” as in “get remuneration for the use of their data”?”

“I feel I ought to say something witty and amusing. You obviously toyed with that but rejected that idea. The point has been well made by, in particular, people from Leicester, because there is quite a conglomeration of comedy clubs and they have a comedy festival in Leicester as well. Yes, I am keen to have a roundtabl…”

“At the Grange Festival the other day, they had “Les Indes galantes”, the French production of the Rameau opera, which is a combination of hip-hop with 18th century music. Apparently it was an absolutely storming success. Those kinds of intersections are important. In the UK, we sit at the crossroads of the nations. Som…”

“We have been giving £1 million for the last few years, and we have not made a firm commitment yet about what we will end up doing.”

“This is God’s own country and I am a mere servant.”

“Bearing in mind what you said last week, Dame Caroline, I think it is about time that we celebrated the creative industries. This is not just a brief encounter; for many people it is a matter of life and death, and in the end there is hunger for change. I hope that by the matter of persuasion, you will accept that we a…”

“Well, that is new, but not to this. It is part of the wider Government since the general election last year.”

“This plan is funded and committed, and you know the specific sums, with the £380 million that was committed to. Some of that has come from us and some of it is coming from DSIT. I am grateful, incidentally, to my DSIT colleagues for wanting to embrace this. They will be able to say more later this year about R&D, about…”

“We must definitely be more efficient in the Department, as must every other Department. There are things that we need to learn about how we could run the Department more efficiently. There are some challenges in that. For instance, we have 42 arm’s length bodies, I think. They vary, but they include things like the Art…”