Oral Answers to Questions

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Thursday 27th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

I have a lot of time for the hon. Gentleman, but with respect, he is talking absolute nonsense. This Government inherited a situation where there had been no strategy for this country’s young people for nearly two decades, where the arts had been underfunded, where capital projects had not been gripped and where sports were left languishing while demand soared. We have turned that around, with the new covenant with civil society to extend that partnership to every part of the country, a new national youth strategy, and funding for arts everywhere, not just in some parts of the country. I am proud of the Budget, especially as it introduces a visitor levy that will raise millions of pounds in parts of the country that were underserved by the last Conservative Government for far too long.

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

T4.  Huddersfield contemporary music festival is the UK’s largest international festival dedicated to new music, and the programme this year has more than 30 world and UK premieres. Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to this festival, which brings national and international musicians to Huddersfield every November, and will he set out what the Government are doing to ensure we invest in culture in towns like mine?

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)]

I highly commend the festival in Huddersfield. As an Edinburgh MP who is always championing festivals, the more music festivals and other arts festivals we have across the country, the better. I encourage everyone to go.