Speeches by Bryant.

“My reading of how we responded to your report is slightly different. Yes, we disagreed about the fan-led review because I feel I am the fan-led review. I am a fan and also parts of the sector had already done their own fan-led review, which fed into the work that you produced. We wanted to proceed at pace rather than w…”

“I do not want any small music venues to close, and that is why we are working as fast as we possibly can on the levy. I think in the end that is going to make the single biggest difference. As I say, we are looking at whether or not the agent of change principle, which we think should be part of the equation now, shoul…”

“Most of the people I have spoken to have said, “Can we have a cut in VAT?” I have said, “You know that is going to be very difficult for us to achieve.” Then that is normally the end of the conversation. I am sure everybody would much prefer us to cut all their taxation, but we end up at the same point. The parallel of…”

“I am very happy to see anything anybody can bring to us, but it has to be very convincing to be able to say we are going to radically reform the VAT structure for one particular industry. My anxiety would be that the theatre industry would make exactly the same argument. You end up with an awful lot of parts of the cre…”

“I would not link the two, no.”

“We have had lots, and Alastair has had a lot of it, so I am going to hand over to Alastair for that. But the single point I make is it is unlikely that we would be able to persuade HMRC to change how VAT operates solely for this levy.”

“That is like me telling you what is going to be in my plan, and I am not publishing it here today. There is stuff I am working on still, so on the Creative Remuneration Working Group, which was set up under the previous Government, I think we are making significant progress. I would like the record labels to move close…”

“I am pretty focused on it, if I am honest. We have had quite robust conversations in some of the meetings I have been in about trying to make sure that we deliver on all of this. Some of this is not entirely within our gift, so the issues around creative education and music in schools is of course a DfE responsibility,…”

“I would say two things. First, I am doing my bit as part of trying to make sure that we get a good outcome in relation to EU touring. I am not sure quite when that will come and what part of the process it will be, but I was really pleased that the EU Cultures Ministers invited me to their informal meeting in Warsaw, a…”

“I do not think the big issue is money. I think the big issue is bureaucracy and legal constraints. No, is the direct answer to your question, but we will think about it. There is some money that is provided through the Arts Council to artists who are touring, but I think the specific set of issues are more to do with f…”

“It is one of two Departments that I work in.”

“Yes. It is not easy setting up a new charity. Lots of us have done it as MPs and end up doing things in our own constituencies. I have myself. Obviously you want to make sure that the fiduciary responsibilities of trustees are adhered to. What is good is that quite a few people who have already signed up as trustees ar…”

“Keep calm, and do not get too frustrated with the charity commissioners. They have an important job to do to make sure that everybody understands their responsibilities that they take on as a trustee. However, you do have to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. You cannot take shortcuts when it comes to getting all of this r…”

“And in many ways struggling as well.”

“They had better do and, to be honest, we have had such constructive conversations since I took on the role and on the back of our response to your Committee report, and I think on a couple of occasions Dame Caroline has asked me questions in the Chamber—and others have—about whether we would implement legislation. We a…”

“I am already going to Diana Ross.”

“I am also going to the Scissor Sisters, and you will be shocked to hear I am going to see Kylie. But I think the Kylie tour was all organised long before this and I am sure we should be so lucky, but Kylie might arrange another tour, and when she has another tour I hope she will sign up too. Should we stop this now?”

“Stop in the name of love.”

“I am very happy to see anything anybody can bring to us, but it has to be very convincing to be able to say we are going to radically reform the VAT structure for one particular industry. My anxiety would be that the theatre industry would make exactly the same argument. You end up with an awful lot of parts of the cre…”

“I would not link the two, no.”