Oral Answers to Questions

Elsie Blundell Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray]

I can commit to meeting my hon. Friend to talk about these specific issues. We do a regular telecoms drop-in for MPs, and I encourage all MPs to ensure they come to that so they can meet the mobile network operators and Building Digital UK on the broadband side to ensure that we are covering all these issues. It is not an exact science, so when there are examples like that which my hon. Friend brings forward, I would like to hear about them, so I am happy to meet her.

[Mrs Elsie Blundell (Heywood and Middleton North) (Lab)]

14. What steps she is taking to help ensure that people from working-class backgrounds have pathways into the creative industries.

[The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)]

This country’s creative industries are world-leading, but for far too many people, they are a closed shop and we are determined to change that. We are investing in the BFI Film Academy to expand opportunities for young people from different backgrounds and parts of the country to be able to work in the film industry. We are investing through our Every Child Can programme to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities. But I have to say to my hon. Friend that progress on this has been frustratingly slow, and we will convene the creative industries in the coming weeks to ask them to do more.

[Mrs Blundell]

From Caroline Aherne to Peter Kay to the Gallagher brothers, in the past in Greater Manchester we have shown that coming from a working-class background has absolutely no bearing on a person’s ability to make a cultural impact. What further steps have been taken to remove barriers to entry into the creative industries and ensure that talented people from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to shine?

[Lisa Nandy]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that. Through the work we have done with the TV historian David Olusoga and others, we have identified that there is not just a challenge at entry level; young people from diverse backgrounds hit a glass ceiling at a certain level and simply cannot progress. I am very proud of the fact that Wigan is the home of Ian McKellen, one of the greatest actors this country has ever produced, but frankly it is hard to see how a working-class lad from Wigan nowadays could go on to become one of the greatest actors in this country.

I say to the creative industries: this is existential. Any country can make series about posh boys playing gangsters in the east end. Very few countries can meet the genius of “Derry Girls”. In order to continue to make those incredible moments and create the best output, we need a far more diverse workforce than we have at the moment.