As we approach the General Election on 4 July, take a look at the proposed policies of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties around culture and media, as set out in their respective manifestos.
Ahead of the 2024 General Election, we summarised the key policy points of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties, which affect the culture and media sectors.
Labour
- Implement a creative industries sector plan as part of the Industrial Strategy, creating good jobs and accelerating growth in film, music, gaming, and other creative sectors.
- Work constructively with the BBC and other public service broadcasters so they continue to inform, educate and entertain people, and support the creative economy by commissioning distinctively British content.
- Improve access to cultural assets by requiring publicly funded national museums and galleries to increase the loans they make from their collections to communities across the country.
- Launch a new National Music Education Network – a one-stop shop with information on courses and classes for parents, teachers and children.
- Support children to study a creative or vocational subject until they are 16
Read the full Labour manifesto here.
Conservative
- Ensure the UK’s creative sector tax incentives remain competitive.
- Ensure creators are properly protected and remunerated for their work, whilst also making the most of the opportunities of AI and its applications for creativity in the future.
- Launch of a review of the night time economy in England, looking at how to reverse the decline in pubs and clubs and how to make towns and cities great places to go out.
- Carefully consider the findings of the Funding Review ahead of the next Royal Charter and ensure it upholds these principles.
- Introduce a new complaints process for the BBC so the BBC does not mark its own homework.
- Oppose state regulation and control of the press, including any attempt to bring forward Leveson 2 or re-open the Royal Charter on self-regulation of the press.
- By clarifying that the protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act means biological sex, this will ‘guarantee that single sex services and single sex spaces can be provided, for example in healthcare and sports settings, to ensure women and girls are protected.’
Read the full Conservative manifesto here.
Liberal Democrats
- Establish creative enterprise zones to boost cultural output.
- Upgrade tourism’s status with a dedicated Minister of State for Tourism and Hospitality.
- Maintain free access to national museums and galleries.
- Boost funding for cultural and creative projects by fully participating in Creative Europe.
- Require 80% of on-demand TV content to be subtitled, 10% audio-described, and 5% signed.
- Support independent, Leveson-compliant regulation for media privacy, quality, diversity, and choice; proceed with Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry.
- Pass an Anti-SLAPP Law to protect free speech, whistle-blowers, and media scrutiny.
- Support the BBC in providing impartial news and increasing media literacy to combat fake news.
Read the full Liberal Democrats manifesto here.
In response to the election call, UK Screen Alliance has set out our manifesto for the policies that we want to see the next government pursue. Read “A plan for growth in visual effects and post production” here.
Animation UK has also published a separate manifesto, which outlines a strategic roadmap to leverage our creative strengths, ensuring local and UK-wide growth. Read “A Blueprint For Sector Growth“ here.
Additional manifesto links:
