 Secretary of State, it's wonderful to have you here in Pinewood. This is in my constituency in Beckinsfield, so it's an honor to have you today. Today I wanted to ask you, it seems like a lifetime ago, February seems a lifetime ago, and I wanted to ask you, what were your priorities when you started, and what are your priorities now? And have they changed at all, or what's the sort of, you know, projection for the future? Yeah, well, I mean, the first thing for me, and probably one of the big reasons why I wanted the job in the first place and delighted to have been appointed as Culture Secretary, is the huge opportunity we have here in the United Kingdom, particularly in the space of digital and tech. And I often forget the D of the DCMS. It's not just culture, media and sport, it's also digital. So how we exploit those huge opportunities, take something like data. Data is the oil of the 21st century economy. So ensuring that we have brilliant data regime that means that you can exploit the opportunities of data, drive growth in a way sometimes, I think, other countries around the world see the threat, we should see the opportunity to create jobs and growth there. But then across the wider area of my brief, culture and creative industries is a huge growth industry in this country. Just look here at Pinewood, as you say, it's extraordinary. At Pinewood, I think about 168 Oscars have originated here. And even from the midst of the COVID crisis already, thanks to interventions we've made as a government, for example, by prioritising people being able to come to the UK for high-end film and TV, by working on a reinsurance scheme. Pinewood is back up to full capacity, creating those jobs and growth in the creative industries. So the two kind of come together in a way. Both the initial opportunities that we had before COVID struck, but then seeing whether it's with digital and tech, how we can survive through COVID and then thrive and grow those areas, or in the creative industries, how we get them back up to strength with things, for example, like our record investment. And speaking of COVID, what are your reflections on the role DCMS has played in the past seven months to support the local economy and the UK in general? Well, look, when COVID hit, it hit our sectors really hard. And across all of them, we've been working hard to protect and support them. So, for example, in relation to the charities sector, we've invested three quarters of a billion pounds, 750 million pounds, to help small and medium-sized charities up and down the country to weather the COVID storm. Or when it comes to our fantastic culture and creative industries, our culture is not just the value you have from culture itself, marvellously enriching of all our lives, but it makes us a creative powerhouse. And once again, as we have done in the past as conservatives, we were there for culture. We created the National Lottery in the first place, biggest investment in culture we'd seen up to that point. Then George Osborne and others are creative industries, tax release, particularly the film industry, so relies on that. Another huge investment, and there's third huge investment that we have with one and a half billion pounds in culture. Just sitting here in Pinewood, it's sort of the heartbeat of the creative industries, and we're so proud. I'm so proud to have Pinewood in my constituency. But what role have the creative industries played? And what role has DCMS played in supporting the creative industries across the UK? Not just here in England, but maybe in Northern Ireland, across all of the UK. What role have you had in supporting this vital industry, in which I believe now we actually have surpassed the US in our production capabilities and in what we're doing in our output? So it's fantastic that we're a world leader, but I would just love to hear more about what you're doing to support the industry. Well, we're not just a world leader, we're a genuine creative industries superpower. And if you look across, as you say, the film industry, advertising, television production, emerging technologies or emerged technologies like gaming, Britain leads the world. And it creates those sort of high quality jobs that I'd want to do, or our children or grandchildren would want to do, jobs that will last into the future. And as you say, it's not just in London or the Southeast, it's across the whole United Kingdom. Take, for example, Netflix. Netflix films in Newport in Wales, a show called Sex Education, which is actually a comedy drama, but that is exported around the world and is a hit in Saudi Arabia. And that, in its own way, is projecting our soft power around the world or take Game of Thrones filmed in Northern Ireland or countless productions in and around Edinburgh, another fantastic hub of film and television. And actually, when I was up in Edinburgh recently, you can see the creative power in the digital industries there as well. And I really see the opportunity here in DCMS is to drive jobs and growth in those areas. And I'm tremendously excited about the opportunities that we have. I just want to thank you for what you did during COVID for the 1.5 billion that you invested in culture and heritage. And would you tell us more about what DCMS is doing and sort of how you're getting that money out to the front lines? Well, the reason why the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, and I really wanted to make this investment in our culture, as I say, Conservative Party once again proving we and not the Labour Party are the party of culture. It was us that created the lottery. It was us that created creative industries, tax breaks, preserving what makes us such a wonderful nation. We were talking about our creative industries. They rely on great institutions like the Victorian Albert Museum in London or wonderful museums in Birmingham, Manchester, but not even a place like Warsaw, a fantastic art gallery in Warsaw. That drives our creative industries. So we were determined to protect that essential architecture, but determined to protect our theatre. Think of the number of films and TV shows that originate in our theatres. And we didn't want the temporary challenge, however great it is of COVID, to mean that we lose that cultural richness that enriches all of our lives. Think, for example, of our great orchestras. And you take, for example, the Royal Ballet. The Royal Ballet now competes with the Bolshoi. The same people that do the lighting and rigging for that can also have jobs here at Pinewood. They can have jobs in TV. It's a sort of culture that feeds one another. And it was essential that we preserve that. So I know that across the country, whether it's theatres, whether it's galleries, they put in their bids, we're assessing them, and the money will start flowing out the door in October, proving that we're on their side. We've seen a sort of technological change through COVID. We've seen more people reliant on online capabilities. And what have you done to sort of support the tech sector? And how are you building on that technology for the future? Well, I think a number of things. First of all, we've got to get the basic infrastructure in place. So that means the broadband, and it also means, for example, mobile coverage. One of the great things we've managed to do in the past year is to sign a deal with the big mobile operators, finally to start to deal with those blackouts in rural areas. So not when you're quite up the top of a mountain. I'm sure we want peace at the top of a mountain. But in those rural areas, you can get a mobile phone signal, this so-called single rural network. That will ensure that people can access their mobile phones, building the new broadband and the gigabit, but also making sure we've got the rules that underpin it all. I think there's a huge opportunity as we've left the European Union, when you see in the US increasingly policy dominated by the interests of a small number of tech firms. Countries like China that heavily depends on the state, heavy state presence. Increasingly, the European Union, looking to a more protectionist stance, we need to be a place where we're open for tech, open for digital, open for data, but also have those British values like the rule of law, like our court system, that can protect people's basic rights at the same time. And I want the UK to be a magnet for the brightest and the best around the world to set up those tech businesses and create those jobs and growth that we so desperately need. Fantastic. And there's been a lot of talk in the media about cancel culture, about, you know, our heritage and needing to sort of revisit things. And I'm very proud of being British. I'm very proud of our heritage. But what is DCMS, what are you doing to sort of protect our heritage or what is your feeling about the whole sort of cancel culture and what we've seen in the news? Well, look, just as conservatives, we put the money in to preserve our culture. We should stand up for our cultural values. Why on earth should we feel shame about seeing Royal Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory at the prompter? I remember one of my highlights when I used to be watching it with my grandmother on TV. I'm so sad I couldn't go along and do it myself. We see this sort of, I don't know why we should allow ourselves to be ashamed of our history. Of course there are dark moments in our history as there are in any nation's history. And it's right that we should shine a light on it. But we should also celebrate the huge strength. Take slavery. Clearly, slavery was a terrible stain on the British Empire. But is it equally true that we abolish slavery? We're one of the first nations to abolish slavery. And actually it's the case that the Royal Navy spent huge amounts of our national wealth. According to some estimates, up to 2% of our national wealth, every year, patrolling the North Atlantic to stop the evils of slave trade. If you look at our values, like the rule of law, like a free and open press, they define the Enlightenment and made our lives as rich as they are now. So I do worry that there is this sort of culture going on at the moment. Looking back in shame on our history, it's of course there are mixed stories, but we should celebrate that strength. And I've sent in this message out very clearly to our culture institutions. Of course they should be talking about their history. And I always say, keep stuff in place. Keep your monuments in place and use them to explain our history. Don't hide it away. Weak nations trying to obliterate their history. We should look our history in the eye, confront it and celebrate our strengths as well. I completely agree. And even with the statues, there was a lot of dispute over statues. And what was your feeling about Winston Churchill's statue when it was defaced? I was taken aback and actually horrified. Well, there is this movement, particularly amongst someone in the left who want the history of Winston Churchill simply to be about famines in India and about Churchill's role against the miners. Now, of course, everyone has mixed histories, but the great achievement seems to be overlooked of Churchill. The person who defeated Nazi tyranny, defeated the most racist regime in history to paint that man in turn as a racist seems extraordinary. And it shows a sort of moral weakness of the left that doesn't feel content to stand up for British values. And I think we as conservatives need to champion those British values because you look at strong, confident nations around the world. They don't spend their entire time trashing their history. They celebrate their history. And I think we have so much to be proud of. And you can tell by my accident, I wasn't born here, but I am so proud to now be British and to embrace our culture and heritage. And thank you for standing up for those values. And you're absolutely right. Think of the people around the world who've come to the United Kingdom, made it their home over the generations going back through the 17th, 18th, 19th, and of course 20th century with things like the wonderful influx of the Windrush generation. Think of all the countless jobs that they've done in our schools and our hospitals and how much our life was enriched by that generation come through. And in turn, I think it's so important that everyone feels that they own our culture and history. So I want everyone to feel the sense of pride that I have in the British Museum, in the Victorian Albert Museum. They belong to everyone in this country. So it's important that we champion that diversity because it's one of the things that makes our country such a wonderful place. Why are our creative industries so vibrant? Because we have such a vibrant culture. Absolutely, we'll all be flying the flag for Britain. And looking ahead, what makes you optimistic about the future? And what makes you optimistic about the plans that you have for DCMS? Well, we're a great nation and we have great strengths. We have great strengths in our creative industries and we're perfectly positioned. And I was talking here at Pinewood, what makes this a great place to invest? It's the strength of talent that we have in this country, the skills that we have, whether that's makeup artists, special effects, lighting, props, filming, actors. We have such a wonderful culture here. The English language. We have our open society whereby anyone who comes here can feel at home. We should be cherishing those things and driving forward our strengths because this country, it used to be the case, you know, I've got Canadian in-laws, if you look at, and indeed we were talking about this, your background in America, used to be the case you'd pick up your cutlery and it would be stamped made in Sheffield. Now, our culture around the world is stamped made in Britain. And if you think about where the growth industries are coming, the desire to consume British culture, British films, whether that's on platforms like Netflix, Apple, Amazon, all of whom are desperate to film here, whether it's people that want to consume British fashion from Burberry to Alexander McQueen, whether it's people that want to come and visit our great institutions. Just yesterday, I was at Whitecube, the famous art gallery down in Bermondsey, we're the hub of the modern arts scene. No, that's where the growth is going to come in the future. And similarly, if you look in the tech sector, take a company like Accardo that I was at a couple of weeks ago, the sort of robotics they are employing there to ensure that your groceries are delivered to your house. It's sort of like taking a step into the future, seeing these robots whizzing around. That's British ingenuity. And that British ingenuity is in turn being exported around the world. That intellectual property generated there is being snapped up in every country from Canada through to Australia, through to rapidly developing countries. That's where British strength lies, just like we had British strength and ingenuity that developed everything from Concorde to the steam engine. We are developing those technologies of the future. And they're increasingly technologies that don't rely on the traditional, the trade restrictions. So I think there are many, many reasons to be optimistic. And that's why I'm so privileged at Department of Culture, Digital Media and Sport to be promoting those industries and championing them. And what are we doing for the red wall area? How are we including them in the conservative sort of vision for the future? Well, actually, first of all, we're going to get that gigabit broadband, the extraordinarily fast broadband. We'll get that to those northern seats first. They'll be the first beneficiaries and they are being the first beneficiaries of it. In relation to our culture, too often culture has been focused on London and the Southeast. We've got our cultural investment fund. That is about helping to ensure that culture experiences shared around the whole of the UK and particularly in those northern red wall seats. Take, for example, the Warsaw Art Gallery, a fantastic institution. We'll be investing in those sort of places to ensure that that wealth is spread everywhere. And also, the first intervention I made to support one of the sectors in DCMS during the COVID crisis was to protect Rugby League. Rugby League. My first visit, actually, to sport was to see the wonderful stadium there in Leeds just outside Manchester. And I was determined those clubs from the heart of those communities are protected and preserved. People put their faith in the Conservative Party for the first time. And I'm determined that we will repay them. Dare I bring up this subject? But what are your thoughts on the BBC and where it's going? Well, look, I actually love the BBC. I think the BBC is a fantastic institution and is known around the world. But the BBC needs to represent the whole of the United Kingdom and everyone. It can't just be enthralled to a narrow outlook that reflects the values of people who live in the centre of big cities like London, Manchester, Bristol and Brighton. I think they've got it wrong in the past because they've allowed themselves to be driven by those values instead of the values of the entire country. And we saw that with the extraordinary situation of not being able to sing Royal Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory at the problems. I mean, any normal person thinks that's a complete outrage. And similarly, the BBC needs to stand up for values of impartiality. One of its great strengths compared to broadcasts around the world is if it gets this right, it can be trusted to be impartial. But that goes back to the values. And being impartial, it must reflect everyone's viewpoint, just not just in news output, but across the entire spectrum of what it does. And I hope that the BBC takes this challenge seriously. There's some positive indications there. But I've been very clear about the need to address that. Secretary of State, talking about our values, what are your thoughts on free press? Well, free press is one of the things that defines us as a nation. We often take it for granted. But no other country has the sort of vibrancy that we have in terms of our national newspapers, our magazines. And I'm determined to preserve our press, including our local newspapers. That's why, for example, during the Covid crisis, I designated workers in the industry as key workers. That's why they've been, helped to be the beneficiary of Covid advertising. Of course, we had to do that anyway, but it ensured that there was revenue for them during hard times. And I've also sought to champion them. I thought one of the most outrageous things we saw was the failure of politicians, Labour politicians, to condemn extinction rebellion when it was literally blocking our free press. Stopping views that they disagreed with being put out to the public. That is outrageous. But it's of a piece with the left. It's exactly the same thing with no platforming and all the other intolerance that you see. So it was conservative. I'm determined to preserve the values of the free press and to champion them. Talking about things that we're proud of, I'm very proud of our high street in Marlowe. And it's a beautiful high street. And I know up and down the country MPs are very proud of promoting their heritage high streets. Could you tell us a little bit about what DCMS is doing to promote heritage high streets? Well, as you say, Marlowe has a wonderful high street. I know it well. And think of the pride that people get from having such a beautiful high street. It's not just the shops on it. It's the sense of place and our rich history. I think there are few countries in the world that have such wonderful high streets from the medieval to the Victorian to the modern. And I'm determined that we preserve those, preserve and enhance that sense of place. And that's why we've announced 95 million pounds to support our heritage high streets. Everywhere from Huddersfield to Hexham, from Coventry to Kirkham, everywhere we are investing that money. Thank you so much, Secretary of State, for being with us today here in Pinewood Studios and a conference back to you.