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Live Music

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, on his epically superb speech. I declare my interest as a trustee of the KOKO Foundation. As all noble Lords know, KOKO is a fantastically cool music venue in Camden. In fact, it was made live music venue of the year.

Stemming from my involvement with KOKO, I want to make a point about businesses in general. KOKO has never received a penny of government money. Since its creation, it has created about 10,000 jobs, paid £80 million in taxes and helped the regeneration of the area. But the recent increase in NI means that KOKO now has to attract 4,000 additional customers a week in order to meet its NI bill. At the same time, KOKO has set aside £500,000 for the foundation to help local people; it works with the Department for Business and Trade in welcoming foreign Governments to look at hospitality; and it has helped in many other ways. My point is more general: every time the Government impose taxes on business, they are harming or impacting venues such as KOKO.

Everybody knows the importance of live music. The recent Harry Styles tour, for example, generated about £1.1 billion in revenue beyond the actual events. However, we cannot be complacent about the success of the major live music industry in the UK. We did not go ahead with the Sphere—that was nothing to do with this Government—but the London fireworks are falling behind. Major countries in the world see live music and events as central to diversifying their economy. It is incumbent on the Government and on local government to work more closely with the private sector.

I echo the points that have already been made about secondary ticketing and flag the point about visas for musicians, which is becoming a particularly thorny issue for many involved in the live music business.

1.49 pm