Speeches by Bryant.

“Well, I have just been told that I am on the side of Wigan. [Laughter.] But there is a more serious point here, which is that the UK has 35 UNESCO world heritage sites. We are one of the two biggest contributors in the world to UNESCO and passionate supporters of it. There is a slight danger that if we have too many an…”

“If only the right hon. Gentleman had been a Minister in the previous Government, when they failed to take the deal that was on offer from the European Union. I am absolutely determined to get this sorted. We got something—[Interruption.] If he wants to start promoting creative industries abroad, he might start thinking…”

“It is not rugby league, Mr Speaker. As my hon. Friend knows, I fully support the project, which I know she has been engaged in since before she was an MP right through until now. I am delighted that she has Mary Beard involved and I am sure that by the end of this, she will be able to pronounce “Veni, vidi, vici.””

“Did you say Ben Hur, Mr Speaker? I do not think we are going to enact Ben Hur.”

“I want to pay tribute to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the way she conducted the spending review. In the words of Diana Ross, she reached out and touched our Department with £8.2 billion, meaning we can make this world a better place. For the heritage sector, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is already…”

“The hospice sector is not specifically my responsibility, but of course I value hospices. To go back to the earlier point about the state of the finances in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, this is the first Secretary of State who has managed to get £3 billion for investment in capital funding. That is goin…”

“I had a horrible fear how that question was going to end. It is really important that we win this battle. This has to be a campaign that we wage across all of Europe—we need to get every single capital city in Europe on our side to make sure that, by the time we get to the next EU-UK summit, we can get this over the li…”

“It is a delight to see you in your place, Mr Turner, and to take part in this debate. Given the weather we have been having, it is somewhat ironic that we are worrying about space weather. People sometimes think the sun is a wonderful thing and a delight when it comes out in the UK. It also helps ice cream sales, with …”

“I am afraid the shadow Chancellor came in during the question. I have known him for a very long time, and I would not cheer him quite so enthusiastically myself—[Interruption.] As charming a man as he is, it meant that I did not hear the question asked by the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney), so I am happy t…”

“One of the issues that is undoubtedly at the heart of AI and copyright is how we ensure that the policy we advocate in the UK works with other countries’ around the world. I assure my hon. Friend that we are working closely with our European allies to ensure we do precisely that.”

“We are completely and utterly not complacent, and we are determined to ensure that creators are remunerated for their work. We would never surrender other people’s labour to a third party. I know that the hon. Member used to be the editor of Cruise International, and I very much hope that as a former journalist she wil…”

“We are not.”

“I know that that is an issue in my hon. Friend’s constituency because he has tabled at least 10 questions to me on the subject over the last week, all of which we have answered in time. I am keen to ensure that we as MPs persuade the mobile companies to invest more in getting better mobile coverage across the country, …”

“The Department is determined to make the UK the best place in the world for science and technology. Last week, the spending review committed £86 billion to research and development, enabling every aspect of our tech economy to start firing on all cylinders. Building on that, we published the digital and technology sect…”

“My hon. Friend makes a strong point: we need digital inclusion for every community. If we are going to have a digital Government, we need to have a digital nation, and we cannot have some people excluded from that future. That is why we have announced £6 million in this financial year for the innovation fund, and I hop…”

“The digital inclusion action plan is one of things I am proudest of. Only this morning I launched the “IT reuse for good” charter. One thing that is really problematic for many families who do not have access to the internet is that they simply do not have a device. I urge every Member of the House to get every busines…”

“Yes, indeed. When I was talking about the creative industries sector plan as part of the industrial strategy last week, exactly the same point was made. Belfast is obviously a great centre for innovation and the creative industries, but we need to make sure that the sector extends across the whole of Northern Ireland. …”

“One really important part of the industrial strategy we published on Monday and the sector plans within it is that we identified a problem many people in the UK face, which is that they have a really good idea but cannot take it to market because they do not have access to finance, in particular to capital, unless they…”

“My hon. Friend is right that it is a brilliant project, and it is precisely the kind of thing the UK excels at: we manage to get the private sector working with Government and local government to deliver not only jobs but real innovation. As the Secretary of State is not here today, I am sure I can offer my hon. Friend…”

“The Chancellor has announced that the Government’s research and development spending plans go through to 2029-30 and that our R&D budget is rising from £13.9 billion in 2025-26 to £15.2 billion in 2029-30—a real-terms increase—and will total £58.5 billion over the spending review period. I am sure that that will be…”