Speeches by Smith.

“1961.”

“How much cost does it add on to a tour? I suppose it is different for an orchestra and for a band, but at what point does it become unviable just because of cabotage?”

“Presumably, Naomi, you deal with the European equivalent to the Musicians’ Union; can you get it to come to the table and talk about the mutual benefits of sorting this problem out?”

“I was just going to come on to cabotage. I do not know if there is anything more you want to say about the problems it causes; you have already touched on that, but you talked about temporary solutions. Are there workarounds that can be put in place to make that happen?”

“Are you confident the Government are engaging properly on this and trying to make the changes that you are proposing?”

“Kate, you mentioned that you now source merchandise in Europe for your tours, is that right? Is that something that a lot of musicians are doing? We just want to get an indication of the problems that the merch rules cause for musicians.”

“How often do those delays and issues happen?”

“Kate and Naomi, you both mentioned the issue of border checks and delays. Could you give us an indication of how big that problem is?”

“In terms of the scheduling, some big orchestras have their own trucks to carry their musicians’ equipment. How does that work? Is there a lengthy process for inspecting those trucks that you then have to build into the schedule?”

“I was actually going to ask about the dreaded carnets, which is my topic. I will start with you, Hanna, because you talked about how carnets and CITES are maybe the biggest problems for orchestras. We are just trying to get a picture of how these problems affect tour budgets and scheduling. How does it work for a big o…”

“I have some questions I want to move on to, but that is really interesting. You mentioned Live Nation and Spotify, which are very different parts of the industry. Who could co-ordinate that? Could you get the three big record companies to try to pull everybody together to give advice and support to artists?”

“That plays into the idea that some artists are now just not touring the EU because of these problems.”

“Have you tried and they have not wanted to?”

“1961.”

“I have a number of constituents affected by the infected blood scandal. Justice for them and for the other victims is long overdue, so I am pleased that the Government are making progress on this issue. May I ask how many interim £100,000 payments have been made to date to the estates of people who have sadly passed aw…”

“11. What recent progress he has made on the delivery of the infected blood compensation scheme.”

“T7. It will be impossible to get the necessary aid into Gaza until the Rafah crossing is fully open. Will the Minister update us on progress in trying to persuade the Netanyahu Government to do the right thing and open the Rafah crossing?”

“Sport is a good example of where you have the national co-ordinating body. Who else needs to be involved in developing the UK major events strategy?”

“I am trying to understand how you bring these two things together. All three of you have talked about the ideas coming up from the bottom, but you have also said you need co-ordination from the top. In practical terms, how does that work? You need some sort of governmental body to try to bring all these people together…”

“In terms of that vision, should it be the Government coming in? For example, many years ago in Manchester, we thought, “We need to revitalise east Manchester.” The Commonwealth games was the start of that, and it has been massively successful. That was part of a wider regeneration vision. Should the Government come in …”