Category: Culture

The speech made by Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in Cambridge on 20 September 2023.

Good afternoon, thank you for the introduction Alex.

I thought today, I might share a secret from my past.

When I was about 7 I used to dream about creating and presenting my own TV show.

After school I watched Tony Hart transform Morph on my screen and imagined my future on the TV.

The fact that I was absolutely hopeless at art never appeared to me to be a barrier to my prospective career.

And then, one day, I nearly got my breakthrough.

When I was about 8 I attended a dance class (and i was just as bad at dance as I was art) and the whole class auditioned to be in a TV advert.

Unbelievably I reached the final round.

And my glamorous future flashed in front of me.

But that inevitable tap on the shoulder asking me to leave the stage quickly ended my not yet burgeoning career.

And my dreams of the starry world of film and TV came to a crashing end when I started my law degree.

And I know that millions of people across the country, young and old, share that dream about being involved in what is one of our most exciting and glamorous industries.

And where better a place to have that ambition?

Here in the UK, our TV is genuinely world leading.

And it has been world-leading for years – from the days of four to five channels, to the current all-you-can-eat world of television we’re in now.

Today, in 2023, we produce the best of the best.

Many of the most celebrated shows of this golden era have been made here in the UK, written here in the UK, and shot here in the UK.

Shows like Sex Education, The Crown and Luther that have become huge hits not just in this country, but all over the world.

And with imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, many of our great TV shows and formats have spawned remakes all over the world – from Love Island and The Office to Bake Off and Ghosts.

You have created a great environment for our TV excellence.

One which discovers and nurtures outstanding talent.

One where creativity is given licence to flourish, every day.

Everyone should take a quick look at IMDb’s top 100 TV shows voted for by users, 26 were first shown on British screens.

British-produced shows like Peaky Blinders, Chernobyl and David Attenborough’s nature documentaries all featured in the top 10.

Our PSBs have been able to bring the same levels of creativity to their programming as streaming services backed by some of the biggest businesses in the world.

You see in countless programmes from Happy Valley and Unforgotten to Taskmaster and Derry Girls.

Meanwhile companies like Netflix continue to underline the dominance of our TV and film industry in Europe.

Spending $6 billion making TV shows and films in Britain over the past 4 years.

Investment that has given us zeitgeist-defining shows from The Crown and Top Boy to The Tinder Swindler

But despite all this excellence, it would be foolish to ignore the enormous challenges that you all face in remaining competitive.

I know that the ongoing strikes in the US are having a significant impact on many working in the industry in the UK.

The government is committed to our film and high-end TV sector, and we want to ensure that it’s in the best possible position to bounce back once the US strikes are resolved.

At the same time, we know that new technologies are, and will continue to drive changes in users’ habits and impact the market landscape.

You only need to look at a handful of Ofcom’s figures to appreciate the seismic scale of change.

They show the number of TV programmes pulling in 4 million or more viewers has halved since 2014.

They show live programmes, like news shows or soaps, are seeing steep declines in viewer numbers across the board.

They show that TikTok, for the second year in a row, was the fastest-growing source of news in the UK.

We know that Artificial Intelligence is already beginning to transform the way we create and consume media and content.

The Government has an interest in this – because your success is success for our economy, with the jobs and growth you support – and your success is also success for our society, because the content you create helps to entertain, challenge, console, educate.

So it is our job, in Government, to support you to ensure in this changing landscape, we protect, preserve and enhance the existing ecosystem that you have all created here in the UK.

And so I see my role as three fold.

First, Maximising the potential of the creative industries including TV, helping you to grow your revenues, invest and spur growth across the UK.

Secondly, giving you the support you need to navigate this changing world,

And thirdly, ensuring that at all times that we champion media freedoms.

Today’s theme in this conference is about choice.

I see choice as opportunity.

I want to talk about these three priorities within this context, to enable you seize the opportunities that are available.

And I want to expand on those three roles.

So first, potential.

Since I was appointed as your Culture Secretary 7 months ago I have sought to maximise the potential of the creative industries, which includes TV.

In February I worked with the Chancellor to ensure we not only continue the High-End TV tax relief and other creative tax reliefs, but actually increase them, in the form of the new Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC).

And, in June, I published our Sector Vision – which is a collaboration with the industry – in particular the Creative Industries Council.

This vision set out our ambition for the creative industries as a whole.

An ambition to grow the sector by £50 billion, create a million new jobs and a pipeline of talent, all by 2030.

And I am now working with the industry to deliver on that commitment.

Through the funding of Creative Industries Clusters across the country like TV in Leeds, gaming in Dundee and Bristol.

Backing innovation in the TV industry – with funding for collaborations like the one between we’ve just announced between the National Television and Film School, Royal Holloway University of London and Pinewood for the development of green screens.

And investing in developing the pipeline of talent, with approval for BRIT School North in Bradford in August, to help us bring through the next Tom Holland or the next Amy Winehouse.

These are just three examples of how we are investing over £300 million since the last Spending Review.

And they build on years of support by the Government.

Building on the tax reliefs that support and incentivise culturally British production, like the high end TV tax relief and the audio visual and cultural reliefs.

Direct funding through initiatives like the Global Screen Fund.

As well as the significant support we gave throughout Covid through the £1.5 billion Culture Recovery Fund and the hugely successful Film and TV Restart Scheme that supported more than 100,000 jobs for cast and crew on more than 1,000 productions.

I am proud that the Government has, for years, recognised the importance of our TV industry.

Secondly as I highlighted we need to make sure you have the framework in which to remain globally competitive in this changing world.

That is why we’re bringing forward the Media Bill, which we have already drafted and consulted on.

This Bill updates the system in which public service broadcasters operate, future proofs it and levels the playing field.

It ensures that we sustain both public service broadcasters and the radio sector.

It does this by making sure public service broadcasters’ apps like BBC iPlayer and ITV X, as well as STV Player in Scotland, the Channel 4 app, My5 and S4C’s Clic in Wales are always easy to find and watch, whether you’re on a smart TV or using a streaming stick.

The way we’ve approached this Bill has been in a consultative fashion, but I do recognise some concerns remain, including about extending content regulation to video on demand services.

But what we are saying is this – is that when you are watching TV, the same rules that apply to a new Channel 4 series or a new Sky documentary should be the ones applied across the board.

The Bill is about ensuring we have the right playing field in place for all parts of the TV ecosystem to thrive.

This is part of our work to help bring TV into the digital age but we recognise there is more to do.

Because we recognise that internet provided TV is growing,

74% of homes now have a smart TV connected to the internet.

And this has spawned hundreds of new, mostly internet-based TV channels which have created yet another innovative way for audiences to enjoy their favourite shows.

But while this shift is an exciting one, it’s our job to look at those channels that fall outside our existing regulations and to make sure people are not left behind by this move to digital.

That’s why we are going to consult on whether we need to extend regulation to these unregulated channels and Electronic Programme Guides. And if so, how?

And, my starting point in looking at this will always be that any change to regulations must strike a balance between protecting people – particularly the young and vulnerable while protecting freedom of speech, and not unduly burdening the TV industry.

I know that this challenge of the move to internet TV is something that you are thinking about with the announcement of Freely earlier this week.

As we focus on the future, our attention must also be on making sure people are not left behind.

Because new ways of consuming TV should not come at the expense of those who still enjoy terrestrial television.

Free to view television is a vitally important part of our television landscape, and this Government wants to encourage the sector to keep embracing innovation and technological development, but we’re not going to pull the rug from under the devoted audiences of Freeview channels.

We want terrestrial television to remain accessible for the foreseeable future.

At the same time, we really want to build a clear picture of what the future of TV looks like.

So today I can confirm that we’re launching a new programme of work on the Future of TV distribution, alongside a call for evidence from Ofcom – which it will publish later in the autumn.

My department will undertake a six-month research project, looking at changing viewing habits and technologies that will impact how shows are brought to our screen, both now, and in the decades to come – acknowledging always the importance of access.

I recognise that the future of TV is not just about pipes and wires, the way it appears on our screens, and how people access it.

We are also working within my department, with industry and with Ofcom to consider the impact of specific new technologies like AI and to shape an evidence base that can guide future policymaking.

It is our job to ensure we strike the right balance between supporting innovation and protecting rights holders.

As part of that, we’re engaging closely with the Intellectual Property Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to ensure we strike that right balance.

While it’s clear that AI is a rapidly developing technology, I want to assure you all that one of my priorities is to make sure we protect and maintain the integrity of our high quality news output.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be growing that evidence base with a number of roundtables on AI to discuss what it means for our media and for our creative industries.

And finally, why this is all so important, and that’s because your work retains and enhances our media freedom.

TV is an enormous industry. Together with film it brings in more than £18 billion for the UK economy and supports almost 300,000 jobs across the UK.

It’s an industry that is there to entertain and inform.

But it is also so much more than that.

A television industry which is able to broadcast, to produce and distribute fearless truth telling in its news, uncomfortable issues in its documentaries, or produce dramas that highlight challenging real life issues.

Is one that reveals behind it a strong democracy that is the mark of a free country.

We all know the playbook in countries that are not free.

The first thing a dictator does is take control of the airwaves.

Because these leaders know that if you succeed in stifling universal debate, you can control the narrative.

That is why you’re all so important to our present, and to our future.

Media freedom is central to our values as a country, and to mine as your Culture Secretary.

And that is partly why I’ve always enjoyed watching the political dramas that you make – whether that is House of Cards, the Politicians Wife, Road Kill, The Diplomat – A Very British Scandal.

They are all so brilliant.

And I don’t even mind that all these programmes often have as their theme a Tory politician, always unscrupulous, who inevitably ends up booted out of office, in prison or dead.

Because that is one of the things that makes our country great.

The freedom you have to make programmes.

I should say that I have noticed in most of these there is a female heroine, often political (sometimes a lawyer), who always outwits the men.

Which is probably the real reason I have enjoyed them all.

Now, before I close, I do want to address the serious allegations that came to light over the weekend concerning Russell Brand.

Those allegations are deeply shocking and it’s right that the police are encouraging anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence to come forward.

It’s also right that organisations involved in his employment conduct transparent investigations into whether complaints were made or concerns raised – and what action, if any, was taken.

The nature of these allegations means it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage, but I do want to briefly touch on the wider culture within our film and TV industry.

This is an industry that young people – like 7 year old me – grow up dreaming of working in.

One where the sky’s the limit for talent.

It is incumbent on all of us to make sure that this industry is synonymous with talent, opportunity and inclusivity – not the scandals of MeToo.

TV studios, production facilities and offices need to be places where people feel safe.

Places where working cultures are responsible and accountable, and do not allow for possible abuses of power.

Places where everyone feels able to speak up, no matter how junior, and where leaders never turn a blind eye.

I would urge all of you, as leaders in your industry, to look hard at the cultures and processes in your own organisations and lead change, if change is needed.

But I’d like to finish properly by thanking you all for the work you’ve done, to build not just a world class TV industry, but a world-leading one.

It is a testament to your talent, your ingenuity, and your commitment.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor have identified the creative industries as one of the 5 priority sectors of growth which we will focus on as a government.

And you’re an essential part of that.

We want to work with you not just to retain our position but to build on it.

And I as your Culture Secretary promise to be your champion in Government to support you to maximise your potential and thrive in this changing landscape.

And I look forward to doing that with you in the months and years ahead.

Thank you.

The speech made by Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in London on 18 May 2023.

Good morning,

Today I want to set out my reflections on three key parts of my portfolio as Culture Secretary.

They are Potential. Opportunity. And Freedom.

That is:

Unlocking the potential that exists in the industries my department represents, including the creative industries

Ensuring DCMS and Government as a whole support and create opportunities for young people.

And highlighting the challenges to press freedom and identifying the principles by which we need to resolve those challenges

Before I turn to these thoughts I want to talk about delivery

As you will know we have a Prime Minister who is laser-focussed on delivery.

And he appointed me 100 days ago to deliver

On a number of projects that affect our communities

And I have taken that challenge to deliver very seriously.

And in that time I have brought to fruition a number of previous commitments

These include:

A draft media bill with reforms to level the playing field for our public service broadcasters

A Football White Paper to protect our beautiful game

A Gambling White Paper that delivers for the smartphone age

Millions of pounds to support Youth facilities across the country

100m to support our charities and 60m to upgrade our swimming pools

An international summit setting out our opposition to Russian and Belarusian participation in international sporting events

As well as working with my department, the Royal Family and the BBC to deliver the coronation and the events surrounding it as well as Eurovision, where we worked closely with Liverpool

And now that I’ve delivered on these commitments , I want to lay out a clear agenda for the months ahead.

One centred around potential, opportunity and freedom.

And I wanted to start by telling you a story about a brilliant woman called Yetta who understood the importance of freedom, opportunity and potential.

Her parents were Russian, and came to our free country as refugees fleeing persecution.

And despite a number of potential drawbacks of that age – being Jewish, the child of immigrants and a woman.

She succeeded.

Yetta ignored obstacles.

And focussed instead on the opportunity she had been given to be brought up here in the UK and in her very own extensive potential.

My grandmother, Yetta Frazer, became the first female barrister in Leicester and practised at the bar until she was 80.

And on every visit I made to see her, she reminded me of a line in a poem by Robert Browning.

‘A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for.’

It’s a line about believing in your ability to succeed and taking advantage of the opportunity to realise your potential.

It totally summed up her life

and it is my guiding principle in this role.

I think my Department – gets to represent some of the very best of Britain.

Musicians and songwriters like Adele and Ed Sheeran. World-class footballers.

Budding young writers and producers, video game creators and fashion designers.

To my mind, DCMS is the Department for talent and opportunity.

And our industries are truly world-class.

I represent so many companies that have understood their potential and done everything possible to maximise it.

Taking just 2 examples from companies here in this room.

Sky who launched in 1989 in a prefab structure in an industrial park on the fringes of west London.

Today Sky is among our leading entertainment companies, with 23 million subscribers.

Or Netflix who were founded as a mail order rental firm in the 90s and have evolved into a business that has spent £4.8bn in the UK since 2020 making TV shows and films here and kickstarting long-term studio leases at Shepperton, Longcross, and a new London HQ opening last year.

Indeed our creative industries are world class. They generated £108 billion in 2021 and employ over two million people across the country.

And to put things in perspective they are worth more than our life sciences, automotive manufacturing, aerospace and the oil and gas sectors combined.

We are in the global age of the silver screen.

We rival any country in the world at sound and visual effects, and are on track to double UK film stage space by 2025.

And the world over, there is demand for high-end British productions not just because of our fantastic actors and our great locations, but because of our tech know-how and production skills.

The imagination of our designers, our producers, our content creators, our writers and artists is spearheading growth right across our economy.

But it’s also owed, in-part, to how the Government and industry have worked together to back talent in this country and make Britain one of the best places in the world to be creative.

And I am here to continue to maximise that growing potential.

This Conservative Government has shown what can be achieved when we work with and listen to all of you working in industry.

It is that same model of public-private partnership that gave us:

A world-class vaccine development programme and rollout across the country.

A £1.5bn covid relief package during Covid that helped protect our cultural and creative industries.

A highly successful Film and TV Production Restart Scheme that ensured the industry was able to keep making great new content despite the lack of commercial insurance to cover Covid risk

And tax reliefs that have been a huge catalyst for growth for our creative industries.

I have no doubt that we in Government can do more to support our creatives.

But we cannot simply rely on the formula for that past success.

We face increasing global competition and we cannot afford to be complacent.

By turbocharging growth and investment in sectors like video games, visual effects, music, fashion, film and television and more, we can retain our status as a creative industries superpower for decades to come.

In order to do that we need to maximise potential. So I am committing to:

Growing the creative industries by an extra £50bn by 2030.

Creating a million extra jobs – all over the country – by 2030.

And delivering a Creative careers promise that builds a pipeline of talent into our creative industries. And I want to work with you to deliver it.

And I know we can. Because we are fortunate to have a PM and Chancellor who have identified this sector as one of 5 priority sectors for Government.

And who have shown their commitment by taking action to support the industry.

At the Budget the Chancellor backed our theatres, museums, galleries, orchestras, film, High-end TV and video games sectors by extending and reforming tax reliefs that create jobs, drive growth and support talent.

Over the next few months we will be identifying how we can go further.

First – growing these sectors by promoting skills from primary school children to those returning to the workforce.

Whether that is in music at school or extracurricular activities, and working with the creative sector on maximising the opportunities of bootcamps and apprenticeships.

Secondly we want to harness talent in clusters across the UK and support cannot be at the expense of London or detract from those places that are already thriving.

It needs to build on what we have already seen across the country. Whether that’s video games in Dundee and Leamington Spa, or TV in Birmingham and Leeds.

And thirdly, targeting specific support at different sub sectors, to unlock growth across the UK.

And now I would like to turn to opportunity. Particularly for young people.

Because we need inspired, empowered and creative young people to drive these industries forward in the future

And I want to ensure that young people, wherever they are, and whatever their backgrounds are, have the opportunity to realise their potential, to fulfil their dreams, and reach, like Yetta did for something better than the probable destiny of their background.

Before taking up this role in DCMS I was responsible for youth justice and met many young people who had, unfortunately, gone down the wrong path.

None of them intending or really wanting to.

I remember meeting John, who had struggled at school, then dropped out of school, and then been sent to a young offenders institution.

He said to me ‘I don’t understand why no-one realised I was struggling and needed help, why no-one noticed me’.

Through a mentoring support scheme, after he came out of prison he got back on track.

And he himself became a mentor for other young children.

We already have the National Youth Guarantee but I plan to expand that offer and make youth central to how we do things, as a Department.

We need to offer all young children inspiration, aspiration, fulfilling education, hope and support.

And finally freedom.

As the descendant of someone who had to flee persecution for freedom, I appreciate what it means to live in a free society, and how dangerous it is when those freedoms are threatened.

Organisations in this room today play a vital role in protecting both our democracy and our freedoms.

We often talk about freedom of the press, but the reality is that it’s you, the media, who are helping protect the freedom of others.

You who live up to the words of George Orwell, inscribed by his statue outside BBC Broadcasting House that ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’

I recognise this basic right is under threat across the world.

The New York Times chairman told Unesco earlier this month that ‘All over the world, independent journalists and press freedoms are under attack.’

And he was right.

You only need to look at the Russian arrest of a Wall Street Journal journalist to see that.

I know that the challenges to free, fair and truthful reporting are coming from so many quarters: from the potential misuse of AI to mis and disinformation.

And that is without even mentioning the speed of the changing media landscape.

Staying competitive in a rapidly changing environment is a challenge for everyone. Challenger companies like BuzzFeed and Vice that were once the new kids on the block, are facing uncertain futures.

As a government we are taking steps to increase press freedoms and make sure journalists can do their jobs effectively.

With measures like the protection of public service broadcasters and prominence in the draft media bill and our commitment to the repeal of section 40 or the protection of journalists in the online safety bill, we are actively guarding your ability to uphold the rights of others.

If we want a thriving media sector in the future – our focus has to be on a free press and a press that is free to grow.

I know that is a major focus of your discussions today – looking at what the future looks like for companies big and small.

And through our draft Media Bill we are updating a decades old regulatory framework to level the playing field and help guarantee the long term future of those first class Public Service Broadcasters.

While also giving a broadcaster like Channel 4 even greater freedoms to produce, own and sell outstanding British content across the globe.

No Government has all the answers to all the challenges the media faces, but what I can promise you is that my approach will be guided by the following principles.

Protect our public service broadcasters.

Stand up for independent voices.

And nurture a thriving media landscape which upholds and champions fearless truth telling.

To finish, I want to end with a thought.

Last Saturday I enjoyed seeing the amazing cultural programme organised by Liverpool as the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest which showcased Ukrainian artists. And I also celebrated with 7,000 others in the Liverpool arena at the Grand Final.

Creative excellence, TV production at its finest, world class BBC output.

I was sitting next to the Ukrainian culture minister.

As the show started Russia bombed Ukraine. He turned to me and said ‘it’s surreal.’ He looked around at the glitter, the spectacle and the sparkle. And said ‘I am here. And my wife is in a bomb shelter in Ukraine.’

Here in the UK we are lucky to have it all. Potential. Opportunity. Freedom.

And we must embrace it.

Because as my grandmother would have said, ‘what’s a heaven for’?

The letter written by Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to Richard Sharp, the outgoing Chair of the BBC, on 28 April 2023.

Dear Richard

Thank you for your letter notifying me of your decision to resign from your position as Chair of the British Broadcasting Corporation. I understand and respect your decision to stand down.

As you have stated the BBC is a great national institution. Over the past 100 years it has touched the lives of almost everyone in the United Kingdom and plays a unique part in our cultural heritage. It is respected globally, reaching hundreds of millions of people across the world every week. No other country in the world has anything quite like it.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the work you have done and the leadership you have provided as Chair of the BBC. You have been a champion for what a strong BBC can achieve, not only for audiences at home, but also for the BBC’s contribution to the economy and to the UK’s global soft power. I would like to express my gratitude for your work with the government to maintain the BBC World Service in its unrivalled status as the world’s largest international broadcaster, and supporting its crucial role in tackling harmful disinformation through providing trusted news and analysis globally.

I know that you are held in high regard by the BBC Board. You have clearly demonstrated your commitment to public service, and I especially applaud the work you did during the pandemic. Your decision to step down in the wider interests of the Corporation is further testament to that commitment.

Certainty and stability for the Corporation are clearly a shared priority. In this context, I have spoken to the Board and they have proposed that you stay in place until the next Board meeting on 27 June 2023, whilst an Acting Chair is appointed in line with the Charter. I have accepted this and would like to thank you for your continued service to assist in ensuring an orderly and smooth transition takes place. We will also move to launch a process to identify and appoint a permanent new Chair.

Thank you, once again, for your service and I wish you well for the future. I am sure there will be further opportunities for you to make a significant contribution to public life.

Yours sincerely

Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The speech made by Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on 25 April 2023.

Good morning everyone, I want to start with an apology.

I would love to be there with you for what I know will be an informed and fruitful discussion, and one that will lead to a valuable report.

And I am hugely grateful to your President for the kind invitation to speak to you all today and to have a chance to reinforce the UK Government’s position on the participation of Russia and Belarus in international sport.

I’d also like to extend my thanks to all the members of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media for your illuminating work in this area.

The UK Government has been committed to the people of Ukraine from day one of Putin’s barbaric invasion and that commitment is an unwavering one.

Any change to our position on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes representing their states in international sport would be incompatible with that commitment and incompatible with our values as a country.

As this Council knows, the Olympic Truce – a principle that dates back to the 9th century BC to promote peace, friendship and understanding through sport – and is agreed at the United Nations – has been broken by Russia not once, but twice.

The first time was – rather unbelievably – at their own hosting of the Winter Games at Sochi in 2014, and the second was during the Beijing Games in 2022.

Russia has shown nothing but contempt for the values of the Olympics movement and its flouting of the rules has extended beyond the current conflict, as we saw with its involvement in doping programmes.

The facts are incontrovertible – Russia has devastated Ukraine, Russia has killed Ukrainian athletes and Russia has smashed Ukraine’s sports infrastructure to smithereens.

This regime does not deserve to see its athletes line up on the starting blocks of races or stand on podiums during medal ceremonies as representatives of their countries.

As part of our absolute commitment to Ukraine and Ukrainian sovereignty, we have used the convening power of sport to bring together a coalition of 35 countries opposed to Russian and Belarusian participation in international sport.

The collective statements we issued in March and July of last year, and February of this year, set out shared principles that all those countries agreed on.

Our common goal is for sporting bodies to minimise the ability of Russia and Belarus to use sport for political gain.

We recognise and want to maintain the autonomy of sport, and we support those national and international sports bodies who have shown moral clarity and exceptional leadership in this area.

Bodies like the World Athletics Council that reaffirmed their decision in March to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes.

World Athletics President Seb Coe highlighted the substantial damage that Russia and Belarus have already done to ‘the integrity of our major international competitions.’

It is in our collective gift to restore that integrity.

And I want to be clear on one point which is really at the heart of this issue: this is not about punishing individual Russian or Belarusian athletes. These individuals have dedicated their lives to sport.

What we stand against is athletes competing to represent the state of Russia and Belarus. There is a fundamental difference.

The UK Government has from March 2022 been clear in our guidance to our own domestic sports bodies that individual Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete as ‘neutrals’ on UK soil, as long they really are neutral and are not representing their states in any way.

And we have been equally clear on what that neutrality looks like. These athletes must not, under any circumstances, express support for the war or the Russian and Belarusian regimes.

This extends to athlete funding – so athletes funded by their states to compete in events or who are in receipt of funding or sponsorship directly aligned to their states, such as from state controlled companies like Gazprom – cannot be considered to be neutral.

Athletes directly funded by their states to compete in sports competitions, who would not be present at those events without that support, are de facto representatives of those states. They are only there by virtue of being funded by, trained by, selected by, supported by the Russian state.

And, in that sense, from the UK perspective both ourselves and the International Olympic Committee, through its recommendations on ‘neutrality’ to International Federations of 28 March, are both seeking the same outcome: ensuring the Russian and Belarusian states cannot be represented in international sport.

We have seen the IOC start to address some of the concerns our group of 35 nations raised in February and that is to be welcomed.

But the IOC’s recommendations do not go far enough for us and they leave far too many unanswered questions. Our deep reservations extend across three areas.

Firstly, there is no reference anywhere in the recommendations to state funding, which as I have said is a breach of neutrality. That issue is simply too fundamental to be ignored and it strikes at the heart of what neutrality is. State funding is state representation.

Secondly, the provisions set out on military and national security agency links are currently minimal, especially when we know that the links between state, military and sport in Russia and Belarus are root and branch.

And if you think that sounds like an exaggeration, consider the fact that the two leading Russia sports societies, the Central Sports Club of the Army (CSKA) and the Dynamo Sports Society, were founded by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Internal Affairs respectively.

Athletes trained by those two societies consistently bring home by far the largest share of Russian Olympic medals.

Many Russian athletes have been active in their support for Putin’s invasion.

The limited focus of the IOC’s recommendations around people being currently “contracted” to the military or national security agencies really does not account for the intrinsic relationship between the military and security apparatus.

Our concern also covers the potential for loopholes, with people being ‘uncontracted’ before events and then ‘re-contracted’ afterwards to allow them to compete.

In Belarus, the Lukashenko regime maintains close control of Belarusian sport, with the Belarus Olympic Committee and Presidential Sports Club, which provides direct financial support to Belarusian athletes, led by Lukashenko’s sons.

The scenes at the pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium last year, with Putin using Olympic athletes to promote his aggression only served to underline this issue.

Thirdly, we have ongoing serious concerns about how these provisions will be implemented effectively, robustly and consistently.

For example, there are issues around the consistent definition of ‘teams’ and whether pairs of athletes could be allowed. This issue is one that needs further clarification.

Let’s be clear on why this matters. You cannot compete in a team event at the Olympics other than by virtue of being the same nationality and representing your country.

There are no options to pair up across country borders, so there can be no place for any teams, of any numbers

We are already seeing a great deal of confusion across sports as international federations take different approaches on the issue of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes back into competition…

And our fear is this will only escalate over coming weeks, exacerbated by the current lack of clarity on future participation at Paris 2024 for those Russians and Belarusians who may have qualified at events this summer.

In all of these discussions we must not lose sight of the issues at stake.

More than 220 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have so far lost their lives at the hands of Russian aggression.

Countless more have been forced to flee or defend their homeland from invading forces.

Our countries all have the luxury of talking about our participation in future sporting events – events that will bring joy to millions and showcase our greatest athletes.

Meanwhile Ukrainian sport facilities have been destroyed or severely damaged by this war.

None of us should countenance the idea of a Ukrainian athlete being forced to share a pitch, a court, a field, a starting line with state sponsored athletes from Russia and Belarus.

The IOC must clarify their position or go back to the drawing board. Resolve the issues I have set out today.

Implement an approach that guarantees only truly neutral athletes can participate.

Then we can get back to sport.

Thank you all for your time today.