Press freedom

In an interview with News Media Europe, Guy spoke out on World Press Freedom Day in May about the importance of a free press - particularly in light of the terrible conflict in Ukraine. His interview is here. Guy is Press Freedom Ambassador of News Media Europe.

Independent Schools

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has said (14th May) that Britain should be "very proud" of its private schools and not "tilt the system" to ensure more pupils from state schools are admitted to Oxbroide. Guy spoke on this theme at a speech to the annual conference of Admission, Marketing and Communications in Independent Schools (AMCIS) on 10th May - report here.

Feline welfare

Guy spoke at the Annual Conference of International Cat Care, of which he is a Patron, on 29th April. He said: 

"With an estimated global population of 600 million cats – half of which are thought to be unowned – humane management is absolutely essential, alongside good veterinary care and owner understanding. And it’s not just about our behaviour, but about the development of legislation and regulation too, which can have a lasting impact on the welfare of cats. That’s why iCatCare’s work has never been more important."

You can see the speech and the rest of the Conference here.

Levelling up music education

Introducing a short debate on music education in the House of Lords, Guy said that:

"the sad, blunt truth is that music education in state schools is on life support. The number of pupils taking A-level music is down by a third since 2014—sadly, often because it is simply not available as a subject. GCSE applicants have come down by 17% over the same period and 29% of state schools have seen a reduction in the number of qualified music teachers, while the number of trainees is falling inexorably."

He asked the Government Minister whether she was aware that, "while 50% of pupils in private schools get sustained music education, just 15% of state school pupils do so? Should this not be at the top of the levelling-up agenda? We need a national plan soon, so can she tell us more precisely when that is coming? Can we also be assured that practitioners and musicians will be able to have their say before it is implemented?"

The full text of the short debate is here. Guy is Co-Chair of the All Party Group on Music Education.

HFSS advertising ban

Guy spoke in April during the Third Reading of the Health and Care Bill to call for a halt to the advertising ban on HFSS foods (which has now happened) and for the media platforms (Google and Facebook) to be treated in the same way as publishers. He said:

"I know that [the Minister] will say that all this can be addressed in the long-awaited online advertising review.

That has already taken two years just to get to a second consultation, and that excuse is not good enough. We are not talking about just long grass—it is deep in the jungle. I doubt that it will see the light of day in this Parliament, joining other much-needed legislation levelling the playing field between platforms and content providers. If this legislation goes through without appropriate amendments, it will be years before another legislative vehicle comes along to right these wrongs. In the meantime, the HFSS ban will have completely failed under the weight of its own contradictions. Is that really what the Government want."

The text of the full debate is here.

ENDS