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Our colleagues in Public Health recently launched a campaign to encourage children to look after their teeth with a video and a quiz, take a look at the Westminster tooth fairy
They also spoke to a local dentist –
How to keep your children's teeth healthy – top tips from a local dentist
We sat down with Dr Emilie Szasz, dentist at South Kensington's Imperial College Dental Surgery, to find out her top tips for keeping our children's teeth healthy.
We all know that children need to go to the dentist, but how often?
Children should visit the dentist every 6-12 months unless their dentist finds that they consume a lot of sugar or have fillings or decay in which case they should go every 3 months. Never leave it more than 12 months as children develop decay faster than adults.
Children can be reluctant to brush their teeth twice a day, how can we change this?
The trick is to get them into the habit from very early on so it's part of their routine. Children should brush without parental help until they're 7. Make it fun; sing a song, use an app – there are plenty on the market – or time yourself for the recommended 2 minutes. And remember; don't get your children to rinse their mouths after brushing as they'll lose some of the protection that helps to strengthen their teeth.
So what food and drink should children avoid?
It won't make you popular but sweets, processed foods and fizzy drinks should be avoided. Raisins are packed full of sugar and get stuck in teeth so should only be eaten at meal times. Fruit, veg and nuts are the snacks we should be handing our children.
Looking for more advice?
Watch the 'Tale of Triumph over Terrible Teeth' with your child to find out more and put your knowledge to the test at the Westminster tooth fairy webpage.


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MeetingsNet recently spent two minutes with GES' Chief Strategy Officer, Dax Callner. Dax shared his thoughts on the future of corporate events and helping corporations better understand the importance of event marketing.
Read the full interview on MeetingsNet.
About the AuthorFollow on Twitter Follow on Linkedin Visit Website More Content by Dax Callner

subset: commoncrawl


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Intal Nebulizer Solution (Cromolyn Sodium)
Generic equivalents for Intal Nebulizer Solution... What are generics?
Cromolyn Sodium (℞)
20mg/2ml Solution
(℞) Prescription required. Product of Canada. Shipped from Canada.
To comply with Canadian International Pharmacy Association regulations you are permitted to order a 3-month supply or the closest package size available based on your personal prescription. read more
Cromolyn Sodium Information
CROMOLYN SODIUM (KROE moe lin SOE dee um) helps reduce inflammation. This medicine is used to treat the symptoms of asthma. It is also used to prevent bronchospasm from exercise or irritants. Never use this medicine to treat an acute asthma attack.
This medicine may be used for other purposes; ask your health care provider or pharmacist if you have questions.
They need to know if you have any of these conditions: -kidney disease -liver disease -an unusual or allergic reaction to cromolyn, other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives -pregnant or trying to get pregnant -breast-feeding
Use this medicine in a power-driven nebulizer with an adequate airflow rate. The nebulizer must have a suitable face mask or mouthpiece. Nebulizers make a liquid into an aerosol that you breathe in through your mouth or your mouth and nose into your lungs. You will be taught how to use your nebulizer. Do not take this medicine as a solution by mouth. Follow the directions on your prescription label. Do not take your medicine more often than directed. Do not stop taking except on your doctor's advice. Talk to your pediatrician regarding the use of this medicine in children. While this drug may be prescribed for children as young as 2 years old for selected conditions, precautions do apply.
Overdosage: If you think you have taken too much of this medicine contact a poison control center or emergency room at once. NOTE: This medicine is only for you. Do not share this medicine with others.
If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you can. If it is almost time for your next dose, take only that dose. Do not take double or extra doses.
Interactions are not expected. Do not mix other medicines in the nebulizer with this one, unless advised by your doctor to do so.
This list may not describe all possible interactions. Give your health care provider a list of all the medicines, herbs, non-prescription drugs, or dietary supplements you use. Also tell them if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs. Some items may interact with your medicine.
Visit your doctor or health care professional for regular checks on your progress. Tell your doctor or health care professional if your symptoms do not start to get better. If your symptoms get worse or if you need your short-acting inhalers more often, call your doctor right away. If you get a bitter or unpleasant taste in your mouth, gargle or rinse your mouth after you use this medicine. If you use this medicine to prevent a bronchospasm from exercise or an irritant, use it shortly before exposure.
Side effects that you should report to your doctor or health care professional as soon as possible: -allergic reactions like skin rash, itching or hives, swelling of the face, lips, or tongue -breathing problems -dizziness -fever -infection -joint pain, swelling -redness, blistering, peeling or loosening of the skin, including inside the mouth -unusually weak or tired Side effects that usually do not require medical attention (report to your doctor or health care professional if they continue or are bothersome): -bad taste -cough -nose bleed, irritation -stomach upset, nausea -stuffy nose, sneezing
This list may not describe all possible side effects. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Keep out of the reach of children. Store at room temperature between 20 and 25 degrees C (68 and 77 degrees F). Protect from light. Do not use if it becomes cloudy or discolored. Store ampules in foil pouch until ready for use. Throw away any unused medicine after the expiration date.
NOTE: This sheet is a summary. It may not cover all possible information. If you have questions about this medicine, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or health care provider.
Cromolyn Sodium Nebulizer solution


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In the report, AP reporter Sean Murphy claims "some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty." But according to both of the lawmakers referenced in the article, the international wire service totally misrepresented their statements. They are now calling for a release of the interview tapes and a retraction.
After the inaccurate assertions made in the beginning of the article, it proceeds with sinister inuendo to quote a constitutional law professor referencing the Oklahoma City bombing. The report then cites State Senator Randy Brogdon, also a candidate for governor, explaining the historical facts surrounding the intent of the Constitution's Second Amendment protection against infringements upon the right to keep and bear arms.
"He put my comments in a very broad article about the tea party and tried to make it sound like I was now going to be leading a march with guns and muskets on Washington D.C.," Senator Brogdon told JBS.org in a telephone interview. "I did not make any kind of statements toward that. As a matter of fact, I made some statements contrary to that — that I believe in the rule of law and I believe in constitutional liberty. Yet none of those were reported, and I even challenged him to make that tape public."
While acknowledging that the reporter got the quote right, Brogdon said he did not think the AP would release the tape because it would force them to write a story putting his comments in context. "This is the classic thing that the liberal media will do to anyone they disagree with," he said. "I obviously have a target on my back because I'm running for governor and I happen to be the most constitutional conservative politician in the state of Oklahoma."
Brogdon said he did not want to speculate about whether the AP or its reporters had an agenda. "But here's one thing I do know: I know what was said in our meeting, and the AP reporter knows what was said, and he has a full recording of it, and if he played that full recording, there would be no doubt," he added. "The press; it is what it is. They're not on my team, and I'm not asking them to be on my team, but it would be nice to have fair reporting."
The report also "twisted" his words regarding a state militia, Brogdon explained. Dating back to the early 1940s, Oklahoma has had an unorganized militia, an organized state guard, and a national guard. "All of those, in section 44 of the Oklahoma Constitution, are referred to as the state militia. That's what I support," he said.
"One time, I said: 'no, I do not support a militia,' and that was in the context of a commando-style militia marching on Washington — that was the discussion we were having. Ten minutes later he asked the question another way, and I said: 'yeah, the militia probably is a good idea because — once again — it would remind us of our widely held belief that we have a second amendment right to bear arms. That, again, was put in the historical context of my answer," the Senator explained. "So at one point, he can have me saying 'I don't support a militia,' then, 'oh, yeah, a militia probably is a good idea. That is exactly what happened and that is by design, there is no doubt about that. Why? I have no idea. I would just suspect that the press would want to know the truth, but obviously not."
After the release of the AP militia piece, Senator Brogdon issued a statement saying his comments "have been misrepresented, taken out of context and are badly misunderstood." But instead of issuing a correction and apology for the distortions, the AP released another article entitled "Okla. lawmaker disavows 'militia' comments." The problem is that Brogdon did not "disavow" any comments, only the way in which they were misused.
"[The reporter] was able to plant that seed and cause a lot of problems because of it, so no, I'm not happy with his non-retraction," Brogdon said. "I've been telling my political foes for a long time that I'm a danger to the status quo, and I think they finally realize that I mean what I say, so now I'm under attack because of it …. To believe any of what's been said in the press over the last few days, you would have to believe that I have totally turned my back on everything that I've been fighting for over the last eight years, and that's a return of our constitutional liberties."
The other lawmaker cited in the AP report, State Representative Charles Key, also told JBS.org that his views had been misrepresented and that a statement was inaccurately attributed to him. According to the original AP article, Rep. Key "said he believes there's a good chance of introducing legislation for a state-authorized militia next year." But on April 15, Key officially demanded a retraction and the release of the recorded interview as well.
"The AP decided they were going to do a story, and then they went out to fit things into their story," Rep. Key told JBS.org, adding that the resulting bias was responsible for the false attribution. "They were going to come up with that story one way or the other." He said he told the AP reporter that the issue of state militia legislation had not even been on his radar screen, answering multiple times that "no, I didn't know anything about it; no, I was not going to file legislation; no, no one had actually asked me about it."
After being confronted with the error, Key said the reporter "voluntarily" made a statement about articles submitted by reporters sometimes being changed around by editors in ways that can alter the intent of the person being referenced. "I think what they should do is say they misunderstood — at minimum. They took [my statement] out of context."
In its subsequent state militia story, the AP also mentioned Rep. Key. But there was no correction or apology. "I think there was an agenda — that's what I think," Key said, quickly following that comment with praise for the reporter. "Somebody had an agenda, and it came out in their articles. Just about everybody that was interviewed — to some degree or other — claimed that they were misrepresented."
Neither of the interview tapes has been released so far. "The fact is, we already have our own laws about state militia; it already exists. So we couldn't create one anyway because it's already in our state laws," noted Rep. Key. "My desire is that they would be real plain and simple and do a piece that says 'he didn't say this,' but I don't think that's going to happen."
This is not the first time the AP appears to have distorted the views of people it interviewed. For example, as reported by The New American magazine (an affiliate of JBS.org), late last year, a widely published AP article minimizing the importance of the "Climategate" scandal entitled "Science not faked, but not pretty" was rebuked by all three of the scientists and experts cited in it. That article was not corrected either.
"It is unfortunate that it's almost impossible to get the truth out through the main-stream media," Senator Brogdon told JBS.org. And indeed, it is a disservice to the public when news outlets try to create stories where there are none. Journalists should not be distorting people's views. The AP must work with the two misrepresented Republican lawmakers to ensure that the truth comes out — what's left of the news service's credibility is on the line. Releasing the tapes for the world to hear would be a good first step.
This article originally appeared at The John Birch Society website.
Photo: Charles Key (left) and Randy Brogdon
Alex Newman is an American freelance writer and the president of Liberty Sentinel Media, Inc., a small media consulting firm. He is currently living in Sweden and has spent most of his life in Latin America, Europe, and Africa. He has a degree in foreign languages and speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian and a little Swedish and Afrikaans. In addition, he earned a degree in journalism from the University of Florida, with emphasis on economics and international relations.


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NASA's AIRS Sees Polar Vortex Behind U.S. Big Chill
January 11, 2014
This movie of temperature observations from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft depicts the first major North American weather event of 2014: cold air moving out of the Arctic and south to cover much of the continent. The temperatures shown are at a pressure of 850 hectopascals (hPa, formerly knows as millibars; sea level pressure is normally around 1000 hPa). Pressures of 850 hPa correspond to an altitude of about 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) above sea level. The temperatures in the movie range from about minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit (245 Kelvin or minus 28 degrees Celsius) to warmer than 66 degrees Fahrenheit (290 Kelvin or about 17 degrees Celsius). The very coldest temperatures in purples and blues are minus 18 to 17 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 28 to about minus 8 degrees Celsius).
The most obvious feature of the movie is the tongue of cold air moving out of Canada and southward to cover much of the eastern United States during early January 2014. This event was covered extensively in the media, and introduced the term 'polar vortex' to a broader audience.
This global perspective illustrates some features not noted in all the recent media attention. Perhaps most obvious: this is not a global phenomenon. The eastern half of the United States includes only about one percent of the total surface area of the planet (about two million of 197 million square miles). One advantage of satellite observations, as from AIRS, is coverage of the entire planet. A truly global perspective is required when studying variations in climate, and this event must be compared against a number of other phenomena occurring around the planet. Note that Alaska and northern Eurasia were warm during this period of unusual cold over the eastern United States.
About AIRS
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, three-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL


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SXSW 2016 Recap
SXSW 2016, you definitely helped Austin stay weird.
The giant ferris wheel is gone, the interactive exhibits torn down, and the general SXSW madness has retreated so Austin can finally return to normal. Well, Austin-normal. We were the official ridesharing partner of the event for the second year in a row, which means it was our duty, nay obligation, to help keep Austin weird. If you weren't able to make it to the festivities in the Lone Star State, here's what we were up to.
SXSW visitors could access Weird Mode in the Lyft app, which delivered the following at the tap of a button:
A birthday celebration (birthday not required)
Karaoke on demand, complete with microphone, stage, and gold curtain (crowd not guaranteed)
Ninja vs. horde of fuzzy pink gorillas (50% parkour and 50% bad stage fighting)
- A miscellaneous costume party surprise (think sequined pink jackets, afro wigs, and unicorn masks)
Our CMO, Kira, was a panelist on "Brands Putting People First," where she spoke about our key brand values and how treating people well pays off. We live-streamed the panel on Periscope for those of you at home.
We worked with some awesome partners to help everyone in Austin stay weird and safe all week long, including Budweiser, who provided discounts on rides home every night.
Evolution Fresh helped keep drivers and passengers cool and refreshed throughout the week.
Wondering what we did last year for SXSW? Check out the origins of Weird Mode on 2015's post.


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Morgan Stanley sticking with investment bank model: CFO
(5:56 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Morgan Stanley MS, -2.33% Chief Financial Officer Colm Kelleher said late Tuesday that the firm believes in the investment banking business model. Banks and other financial institutions with customer deposits "do not necessarily better enable us to execute our business and in fact may bring with them their own set of complications," he explained during a conference call with analysts. Speculation has increased this week that Morgan Stanley may sell itself to a larger bank after rival brokerage firm Merrill Lynch MER, -1.02% was acquired by Bank of America BAC, -2.65%.
Morgan Stanley quarterly net income $1.425 billion
(4:22 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Morgan Stanley MS, -2.33% said late Tuesday that fiscal third-quarter net income came in at $1.425 billion, or $1.32 a share, down slightly from a year earlier when the investment bank made $1.543 billion, or $1.44 a share. Net revenues were $8 billion in the latest quarter, 1% above last year's third quarter, the firm added. Morgan Stanley was expected to make 79 cents a share, according to a FactSet analyst survey. Morgan Stanley shares rose in after-hours action.
Energy stocks remain in red after Fed
(2:23 PM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks remained in the red after the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee kept interest rates unchanged despite hopes of a cut. The Amex Oil Index XOI, -3.41% fell 2.3% to 1,117. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index OSX, -5.31% subtracted 0.8% to 243. The Amex Natural Gas Index XNG, -4.22% gave up 1.8% to 510.
Constellation Energy shares fall 38%
(2:20 PM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Constellation Energy Group CEG, +16.67% fell 38% to $29.55 as it disclosed ties to Lehman Brothers, but the company said its liquidity remains sound despite the bankruptcy of the Wall Street firm. Constellation said in a filing with regulators that Lehman Brothers' total commitment within existing credit facilities stood at $150 million. Constellation said it holds excess liquidity of approximately $2 billion, excluding the existing Lehman commitment. "Constellation does not believe that the potential reduction in available capacity under the credit facilities would have a significant impact on its liquidity," the company said.
Energy stocks continue their slide
(9:38 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks continued their steep slide from the previosu session on Tuesday, as the sector moved down in lock-step with oil prices, which fell toward $90 a barrel. The Amex Oil Index XOI, -3.41% fell 3% to 1,108. The Amex Natural Gas Index XNG, -4.22% subtracted 4.4% to 496. Anadarko Petroleum APC, -3.87% fell 7% to $47.49. Hess Corp. HES, -6.86% fell 7% to $75.95. Oil futures subtracted $4.70 to trade at $91.01.
Monsanto sees 2008 earnings above target
(9:08 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Monsanto Co. MON, +0.00% on Tuesday said it expects 2008 operating earnings of $3.58-$3.60 a share and net income of $3.49-$3.51 a share. Wall Street analysts expect earnings of $3.47 a share, according to a survey of by FactSet Research. The change in ongoing earnings reflected higher-than-expected sales and gross profit in the company's seeds and traits business and its Roundup and other herbicide businesses.
Kroger net income rises by $10 million
(8:59 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Kroger Co. KR, -1.61% on Tuesday said second-quarter profit rose by $10 million to $277 million, or 42 cents a share, from $267 million, or 38 cents a share in the year-ago period. Sales advanced to $18.1 billion from $16.1 billion. Wall Street analysts expected Kroger to earn 41 cents a share on revenue of $17.6 billion, on average. Kroger said Hurricane Ike and its remnants affected Kroger operations in Texas and several inland states particularly Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The financial impact of the hurricane will not be significant enough to cause Kroger to alter its strategy, the grocery retailer said.
Goldman loses $825 mln on mortgage exposure
(8:46 AM ET) BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs GS, -3.07% on Tuesday said it saw net losses of about $500 million on residential mortgage loans and securities in the third quarter. Meanwhile, it lost roughly $325 million for the quarter on its exposure to commercial mortgages, according to the earnings statement. "This was a challenging quarter as we saw a marked decrease in client activity and declining asset valuations," said Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein.
Goldman's investment-banking revenue falls 40%
(8:40 AM ET) BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs GS, -3.07% before Tuesday's opening bell said its fiscal third-quarter investment-banking net revenue fell 40% from a year earlier to $1.29 billion amid the upheaval in global credit markets. Net revenue in trading and principal investments fell 67% to $2.7 billion, according to Goldman's quarterly earnings report. Also, net revenue in fixed-income, currency and commodities dropped 67% from the year-ago quarter "primarily reflecting particularly weak results in credit products and mortgages, which were adversely affected by broad-based declines in asset values," the company said. Goldman shares lost more than 7% in premarket trading.
Goldman Sachs profit falls 70% amid slowdown
(8:31 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Goldman Sachs GS, -3.07% said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit slipped 70% from a year ago as results at several units plummeted during ongoing market turmoil. The company, one of two remaining major independent investment banks in the U.S., said it earned $845 million, or $1.81 a share in the quarter, compared to $2.09 billion, or $4.58 a share a year ago. Twenty analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to earn $1.99 a share. Total revenue at the firm fell 43%, to $13.63 billion from $23.8 billion a year ago.
Ingram Micro cuts third-quarter forecasts
(8:28 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Ingram Micro Inc. IM, -0.05% said Tuesday that it has cut its expected revenue for the third quarter to range from $8.3 billion to $8.6 billion. Net income is expected to range from $30 million to $39 million, or 18 cents to 23 cents a share, it said. The company cited "economic softness ... continuing into September" for the move.
Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. wins FDA OK for Risperdal
(8:14 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. MYL, -3.68% on Tuesday said the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved its abbreviated new drug application for Risperidone Tablets USP, used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The drug is the generic version of Janssen's Risperdal Tablets, which drew U.S. sales of $2.7 billion in the 12 months ending in June.
Mueller Industries CEO stepping down
(7:14 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Mueller Industries Inc. MLI, -3.74% on Tuesday said CEO William D. O'Hagan is resigning for health reasons. The company named Greg L. Christopher as chief executive officer beginning in 2009. O'Hagan was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and is currently undergoing treatment.
Dell sees 'further softening' in global demand this quarter
(7:13 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Dell Inc. DELL, -6.59% said Tuesday it "is seeing further softening in global end-user demand in the current quarter." The computer maker said it expects to incur further costs as it realigns its business, reduces headcount and invests in infrastructure and acquisitions.
A&P balance sheet unaffected by Lehman bankruptcy filing
(4:52 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., GAP, +4.22% the Montvale, N.J., supermarket operator, said on Monday that its balance sheet and liquidity were unaffected by Lehman Brothers' LEH filing under the bankruptcy laws. "Lehman Europe is party to a 3.2-million-share lending agreement with [A&P], entered into in connection with the company's convertible-note financings in December 2007," A&P said. The company needs more information regarding the bankruptcy proceedings before it can "properly assess whether Lehman Europe will be able to fulfill its obligation to return the borrowed shares," A&P said. Till then, A&P said, it will continue to consider the shares outstanding only for corporate-law purposes and not when it reports per-share results. "Lehman is not a party to [A&P's] indebtedness under its revolving-credit agreement with Bank of America N.A. BAC, -2.65% or its senior-note obligations," A&P said. A&P is majority held by closely held Tengelmann Group of Germany.
Debenhams comparable sales slip 0.9%
(2:54 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. department store operator Debenhams(UK:DEB)said Tuesday that comparable sales in the fiscal year to Aug. 30 fell 0.9% and it expects pretax profit for the period to match market expectations. The group said trading in August showed a marked improvement from July, but the U.K. retail sector continues to be adversely affected by wider economic concerns.
Aegon reveals $376 million exposure to Lehman Brothers
(2:41 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Insurer Aegon AEG, -1.14% said Tuesday that it has around 265 million euros ($376 million) of fixed income exposure to Lehman Brothers LEH, but doesn't hold any common equity in the failed firm. Aegon said the ultimate effect of a default by Lehman on its capital and net income will be substantially lower than 265 million euros due to taxes and recovery values. The insurer said it continues to have a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity.


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Pink Bracelets & DL1961 Denim –
So first things first, how cute are these pink bracelets by Chains by Lauren?! They're your basic string bracelets but with the added pop of metal accents and you can wear them with just about anything. And, she will be donating a portion of sales from all the jewelry in her Breast Cancer Awareness section! That's definitely something I can get behind. I'm sure we all know someone who's been affected by this horrible cancer and one day it could be one of us, so every bit counts to finding a cure.


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Mental breakdown not key to Parliament Hill shooting: RCMP boss
In this file photo, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is shown on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, March 6, 2015. (Fred Chartrand / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, January 15, 2016 12:37PM EST
Last Updated Friday, January 15, 2016 4:43PM EST
OTTAWA -- The gunman who stormed Parliament Hill in 2014 would have had a difficult time pleading insanity had he lived to face charges, says the top Mountie.
But RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson acknowledges Michael Zehaf Bibeau could have benefited from mental-health counselling before the rampage that saw him die in a hail of bullets.
A rifle-toting Zehaf Bibeau, 32, raced into Parliament's Centre Block in October 2014 after fatally shooting Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, an honour guard at the nearby National War Memorial.
Shortly before his attack, the gunman made a video in which he cited retaliation for Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq as his motivation. There is no evidence he was under the direction of an organized group.
Paulson told a Commons committee last year that the Mounties considered Zehaf Bibeau a terrorist and that he would have been charged with terrorism offences under the Criminal Code had he survived.
At a conference of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies on Friday, Paulson elaborated on his view of the likely outcome of a prosecution involving Zehaf Bibeau.
"There's no question he had mental problems. No doubt," Paulson said. "And there's no doubt he had drug problems. And if we could have gotten to him earlier, maybe we would have prevented this thing.
"For me, in that context, the test is, what will a court say? Had we not killed him, we'd have charged him. And then he'd have to say, 'Look it, I was so crazy, I didn't know what I was doing.'
"I don't think that's the case. But I do think that he had some issues that could have benefited from some help and some of the resources and programming that exists in the country."
Paulson told the conference, which focused on the threat posed by the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, that whatever the particulars of Zehaf Bibeau's case, many who are susceptible to the ISIL message do suffer from mental-health issues.
That's why it is important for police and security agencies to identify such people at an early stage and ensure health professionals assist them, he said. "Let's find them, and let's help them before we have to find them and arrest them, or get into a shootout with them."
The Canadian intelligence community has embraced collaboration and collective action as the best means of tackling threats such as ISIL, Paulson said. But there's a need to continually increase co-operation.
The commissioner said that after Zehaf Bibeau's attack and another jihadi-inspired assault just days earlier in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., he told his commanding officers that any "remotely foreseeable" plot must be thwarted.
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Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, was the noble Lord intending to play "When the Saints go Marching out"?
Lord Colwyn: My Lords, certainly that was one of the tunes that I had in mind. However, I shall watch the funding situation and consider whether in the future I shall achieve more publicity for jazz by playing a chorus or two of "Nobody Loves you when you're Down and Out" or "Nice Work if you can get it".
Baroness Rendell of Babergh: My Lords, I too begin by congratulating my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Hudnall on instituting this useful and interesting debate and on her excellent and accomplished opening. It is commonly held that it is impossible to teach anyone to become a writer, but it is, surely, impossible to teach anyone to become a professional in the arts if talent, or at least inclination, is not there in the first place. As one who has taught a writing course and who receives letters almost daily from aspiring writers, I am aware just how present is that inclination in a large number of people.
Various creative writing MA courses are on offer. That of the University of East Anglia is the best-known and has been the training ground for writers who include Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwen. The course is now led by the Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion. In his lecture to the Royal Society of Arts on 9th March of this year, he made a plea for funding. Creative writing MA students are at present ineligible for funding. He has asked the Department for Education to look at the situation and has called this lack of support unfair.
Government funding for the arts will be higher this year than it has been at any time for nine years. Under the Arts for Everyone and Arts for Everyone Express pilot schemes, literature made a number of successful applications to the National Lottery, totalling £3 million out of an overall £49 million. For all that, sadly, there is still insufficient support for literature and writers. Perhaps I may quote at greater length from Andrew Motion's lecture:
He went on to say that we should remember too that literature underpins all the art forms. Think of theatre without playwrights, opera without librettists and television, radio and film without scriptwriters. He said:
The Poetry Society is a national organisation which offers training through poetry workshops and an initiative called Poetry Places which funds poets to work in supermarkets, zoos and health centres, among other places. Its aim is neither to discover new poets nor to trivialise poetry but to bring it into people's lives and to show them that it is for the many, not the privileged few.
Probably the best example of training for writers in this country is the Arvon Foundation. Arvon is a regularly funded client of the Arts Council and attracts about 1,000 students annually to its weekly residential courses, which are of two kinds: open courses that are available to all on a first-come-first-served basis and closed courses which are dedicated to students, teachers and special interest groups. The total number of courses is 72, of which 20 are closed courses, and each is run by two professional authors. In 2000-01 Arvon will receive from the Arts Council £123,600, rising to £127,300 in 2001-02. Although widely recognised as the leading training ground for emergent writers, Arvon places equal emphasis on its drive to encourage good reading. As the Literature Director of the Arts Council put it,
This brings me to those innumerable writers who are not, and never will be, professionals. Art as a hobby for the writer is probably only equalled by art as a hobby for the painter. Samuel Johnson gave the opinion, which would be shared by few, that,
We should not take that narrow view of art and literature--or anything else--which holds that only those who can earn their livelihood from them should be eligible for access to them. Writing is the least costly of all the arts to practise, the necessary materials being basically only sheets of paper and a pen, or at any rate a word processor. The pleasure and entertainment that it brings to those who strive to achieve writing success,
Baroness Massey of Darwen: My Lords, first, I am grateful to my noble friend and mentor Lady Rendell for extracting me from the Bishops Bench so that I may speak. I am grateful too to my noble friend Lady McIntosh for introducing the debate and for speaking so eloquently and passionately. I do not speak as a producer of art, a professional performer, or even an outreach performer, but as an avid consumer of arts of many kinds. I shall focus my remarks on a limited sphere; namely, the importance of the arts in education for young people. In particular I shall discuss the arts in the new national curriculum framework for schools and give examples from outreach programmes for young people.
The arts are keenly embraced by young people from an early age if they are given an opportunity to explore them. The arts open the minds and imaginations of young people of all abilities. Some form of the arts can be accessible to children who may reject other aspects of schooling. I remember teaching children in an inner city school whose lives and behaviour could have been desperate had it not been for a particular talent in, for example, dance or music.
Performing in the arts trains qualities essential in general education and for life--qualities such as self-discipline and team work. Performing in an aspect of the arts can raise self-esteem and confidence. Our National Youth Theatre, opera and orchestras are inspiring examples of young people's enthusiasm and commitment. Importantly, involvement in the arts while very young not only cultivates performance talent but creates an audience base for the future, as my noble friend Lady McIntosh said. While some people may not be talented in the arts, they can be encouraged to enjoy the arts and to come to them with discernment.
I want to consider, first, how the new national curriculum framework for primary and secondary schools will contribute to education in the arts. I am not here discussing specialist schools for the arts, of which there is a growing number, but generalist maintained schools.
At key stages 1 and 2, the primary school age range, it is stated that children should have an entitlement to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes in subjects including the arts, and be expected to reach certain standards. The first enthusiasm and critical faculties are developed at a young age.
I can give only one or two examples here lifted from the curriculum frameworks for young children. In English, children are expected to learn to appreciate how speech varies, to organise what is said and take account of the needs of the listeners, to sustain concentration, to ask questions to clarify their understanding, and, in group discussion, to give reasons for their opinions and actions. In drama, they are expected to use language and actions to explore
As I said, that is for the youngest children. The kind of arts education promoted here is far removed from some of the ideas around when I was young, when I remember tracing shapes, and tunelessly and monotonously singing, "The British Grenadiers". I do still remember it--and perhaps we can have the chorus at the end of the debate with trumpet accompaniment!
The curriculum develops in a spiral way, encouraging more complexity and depth in performance or appreciation of the arts as the child matures. I am also aware that, outside the statutory curriculum, many enthusiastic teachers are running writing and reading clubs, producing school plays, dance events, and so on.
I am a governor in a school which has an intake from many different cultures. The schools capitalises on that and exposes children to literature, art, dance and drama from around the world. A recent Gulbenkian report, Latent Talent, reminds us that children living in limited social and economic conditions should have access to the arts. This access may come from outside the school, from organisations which encourage creative performance and critical thinking.
One such organisation--I am aware that there are many--is Opera North, based in Leeds, which runs an energetic community outreach programme. It works with students in primary and secondary schools and in further and higher education, with special needs schools and with deaf students. It carries out in-service training for teachers. Every year in the north of England it carries out around 30 projects aimed to increase access to existing opera and to devise new work. For example, in 1999 a new opera involving 90 students was performed on the stage of the Leeds Grand Theatre. The students, with help from Opera North, wrote the music and text and rehearsed and performed the piece over a five-week period.
Another exciting example was when 30 young people aged between 12 and 15--some deaf, some hearing, and of mixed ability--worked with singers to understand and explore the opera "Carmen". All then attended a sign-interpreted performance. The comments from young people attending the special projects are proof of success. Two students aged 14 from Bradford said, "You changed our perspective of opera, which was one of total boredom, into elements of compassion and commitment".
The Opera North Community and Education report for last year states:
I should like the Minister to comment, first, on how progress in arts education in schools will be maintained and monitored, if that is within his brief. Secondly, what support are the Government giving to educational programmes developed by theatres, in particular in the regions outside London?
Baroness Linklater of Butterstone: My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, on introducing this important subject. I agree with every word of her excellent speech and will probably largely echo it.
The case for promoting access to, and education and training in, the arts should be overwhelmingly obvious. But it is rather like being in favour of world peace. It should be a "given"; but reality is often far different. In education, in the world of work, among minorities of all kinds, and in deprived areas of this country, the arts are seen at best as peripheral and of secondary importance, or as an optional extra. There is often a perceived division between various traditions in the arts--classical, modern, traditional, popular and others--and those splits are often reflected and echoed in generational and social class divisions.
To take an obvious example, the perception of opera as elitist, inaccessible, expensive and an irrelevance is familiar to us all. My husband is chairman of the Scottish Arts Council. He took recently a young man, devoted to SKA music and at home in some very peculiar low dives, to his first Wagner opera. It was a great performance of "Parsifal" by Scottish Opera. The young man emerged saying that it was one of the best things he had ever been to.
Access, education and training in the arts in vastly greater amounts are not only desirable but essential if those perceptions are to be broken down. They are not only desirable but essential for the health and welfare of our society. I use three examples to argue an apparently overwhelming case referring to areas where the arts are particularly important but often inaccessible: to the disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote communities.
First, I want to talk about my school. It is a specialist school in Scotland catering for educationally fragile children. Those children are classic under-achievers, drowning in mainstream education, who have the lowest possible perception of themselves. In my school, the arts are central to the school's ethos. Being good at music, drama, dance or art is irrelevant. The arts are a means of finding a voice; of expressing yourself and feeling good about yourself.
I should like to tell your Lordships about Elizabeth. After her father had been killed by the "shining path" terrorists, she was brought to Scotland from Peru by a friend of his. She was a virtual mute and very shy. We discovered that she loved dressing up. In fact, it was on the stage that she found her voice.
The first Christmas at my school we performed a nativity play and Elizabeth was the Archangel Gabriel. Towards the end, I stood beside her adoptive father who was a tough explorer and adventurer. I heard him say almost to himself, "This is wonderful". I saw tears pouring down his cheeks. That first nativity play brought all the children together as a team and helped Elizabeth to find her voice and to express herself as never before. It reached us all, including her tough father. That was achieved through drama. None of the children would have been on any kind of stage elsewhere. Suddenly they were stars shining for the benefit of us all.
My second example is very different, but it relates to another school. Dog Kennel Hill school in south London used to be a famous under-achieving, tough school. The vast majority of pupils received free dinners; above the average number had English as a second language; and bullying was rife. The police were a familiar presence at the school. The new headmistress, recognising the potential of music for her children, developed music and drama. She introduced it as a core element of her curriculum and in so doing turned her school around. The approach was totally inclusive; it was not just for those who were good at music and drama, but for everyone.
When I visited that large school during an assembly, the children sat in neat rows while six performances from different groups took place. The audience was rapt; you could have heard a pin drop. The child sitting next to me--he was quite a big boy--was almost in tears. He was clearly unhappy. I asked a member of the staff what was the matter with him. She said, "Well, the trouble is that he has been impossible all week and so we had to tell him that he couldn't perform today". That was the greatest and worst sanction that could be applied.
I was later introduced to an Arab boy called Iliass who, I was told, had special educational needs. He spoke three languages: Arabic, English and Shakespeare. Shakespeare was his first language because he had taken part in a production of "The Merchant of Venice" at the Globe. That was a wonderful experience for him.
However, that is not the end of the story because that clearly under-achieving school recently completed another Ofsted inspection. The results were glowing and it was stated that,
Finally, I shall give a different example from my home country of Scotland. It is a story of the Feisean movement. "Feis" in Gaelic means festival and the movement has taken off with a vengeance. It was started by a priest on the island of Barra. He was worried that his community was dying and that the young people were leaving. The Feisean movement is targeted at young people in the area who are brought together for three or four days at a time and taught traditional music, dance and storytelling by established dancers, musicians, singers and the like. That culminates in public performances. The movement has now spread to urban areas such as Bishopriggs.
That initiative illustrates how the arts can bring together communities and generations, resorting a sense of identity, self-worth and shared pride. Fragile communities, such as those West Highlands communities, have been regenerated through such artistic experiences. What could be more important than that sense of empowerment through the arts? And because it is through traditional art forms, there is a very clear sense of holding hands with our cultural past while also developing our present and future traditions.
Some research on the outcomes of the Feisean movement were recently conducted and are most interesting. Seventy-eight per cent of the respondents reported that they had developed more self-confidence; 79 per cent discovered new skills in their daily lives; 93 per cent felt more creative and able to take more risks in their lives; and 96 per cent had made more friends.
For a sense of self-worth, confidence and pleasure, the arts are vital. They can inform every aspect of our lives and should never be regarded as something apart. As a society, as a nation, and as individuals, we express ourselves most potently and creatively through the arts--and we ignore or marginalise them at our peril.
Baroness Crawley: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady McIntosh for introducing this important and entertaining debate. I also thank her for the great expertise which she brought to it in her opening remarks.
There can be no doubt that the access of young people to the performing arts and to cultural life more widely enables them to reinforce talents, skills and enthusiasms which can result in them becoming tomorrow's communicators, achievers, entrepreneurs and innovators. As a former youth theatre leader, I do not need convincing of the towering benefits of investing in access to the arts for young people. I know that my students went on to become the most communicative milkman, nursery nurse, market gardener and council worker in their town.
The skills required for tomorrow's world are, as many colleagues have said, human resource and communication skills. They will rely heavily on the creativity which training in the performing arts can bring. The benefits of the arts to the business world, as
In order to prosper as a country, we need highly motivated people who are unafraid to look at alternative approaches to organisational and leadership development in business. That can be achieved through training in the performing arts. The security of arts in formal education has never been more important, as the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, so eloquently said, in order to raise standards of cultural education and training in its own right and to highlight the role that the practice, enjoyment and study of cultural subjects can bring and make to raising the standards of academic achievement.
It is vital that we have high levels of cultural activity in school, starting with well-resourced pre-school children's play and moving through primary and secondary education in support of improved educational standards. It is equally important that we give young people who are to work in the theatre, creative, cultural and leisure industries--and we must remember that the creative industry is a major growth area in our economic life--the necessary skills. Organisations such as Metier do excellent work in this particular area, and I am proud to be a patron of Metier.
We must also make sure that culture fulfils its huge potential for contributing to social inclusion and the well-being of the wider community. DCMS has established a new education unit to articulate the aims and champion the contribution of cultural education and training. Its establishment has led to new initiatives, such as the £180 million of new money to preserve and extend music in schools, the £70 million from the New Opportunities Fund for the public library IT network, and the £180 million from the New Opportunities Fund for out-of-school hours activity and childcare.
We need to ensure that the work of DCMS with DfEE on the revision of the national curriculum from September 2000 leads to arts education being placed firmly at the heart of our education system for the future. These initiatives are to be welcomed and must be given as much cross-party political support as possible if the benefits of the performing arts and cultural activity generally are to be rooted in our educational system.
Recently the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport established regional cultural consortia in each of the English regions. The aims of the consortia are to bring together the cultural and creative industries in each of those regions, including tourism, sport and lottery providers, to forge links across the spectrum of cultural and creative industries and to
Tomorrow I shall be the opening speaker at a West Midlands conference--the first of its kind--which will bring together lottery distributors as a forum and will focus on community building strategy. It will be partnership in action to open up access. As chair of the West Midlands Regional Cultural Consortium, I see one of the most important aspects of this new regional activity as being the opening up of access to the arts for those who have previously been excluded from them. We know that participation in the arts has a beneficial social impact. The arts can contribute to neighbourhood renewal, build confidence and encourage stronger community groups.
In the past, those benefits have often been overlooked both by arts providers and by those involved in area regeneration programmes. That cannot continue. In their guidance to those charged with regional cultural strategy, the Government made it clear that, while not every artist should be a social worker by another name, or that artistic excellence should take second place to community regeneration, they want the benefits of the arts to be widely spread and the pool of talent available to be as wide as possible. I express our thanks again to my noble friend Lady McIntosh for giving us all an opportunity to speak out for the soaring benefits of the arts to human achievement.
Lord Haskel: My Lords, it was the part about "education and training" in my noble friend's Motion that set me thinking about this debate. I am most grateful to her for setting me that task.
My noble friend Lady Rendell suggested that some would consider
So far as creativity training is concerned, my noble friend Lady Crawley is right. The explosion of courses is a welcome sign that creativity is rewarded and welcomed in British life, especially in business and industry. In his report, All Our Futures, Professor Ken Robinson put it rather well:
People who are trained in the arts enrich our lives in many ways. Perhaps they do so in rather everyday and mundane ways; for example, the John Lewis department stores have always had a high standard of window display. I happen to know that the person in charge of that was a very promising artist who graduated from the Slade. Noble Lords who have communicated with company call centres or telephone sales offices will be impressed by the manner in which they have been addressed. The telephone operators were probably trained by a graduate of one of our leading drama schools who never made it on to the West End stage. Those things improve the quality of our lives. Perhaps even the noble Lord, Lord Colwyn, drills teeth in a more gentle and pleasing way thanks to his training as a jazz musician!
Neither do I believe that all the money spent on creativity courses is wasted. Of course, not everyone will be a Laurence Olivier or a David Puttnam; but creativity also means bringing fresh interpretation to familiar concepts, to familiar processes and to ordinary tasks. Creativity detects gaps in our knowledge and tries to fill them. Those incremental steps are responsible for 95 per cent of the improvements to our quality of life. The stroke of genius occurs very rarely.
Of course, many of the people on whom money has been spent will enter the creative industries and benefit our economy, especially now that we are in a digital and knowledge-based economy where there are whole new areas to be explored by people educated and trained in the arts. Again, Professor Robinson put it rather well:
Does all this education and training produce excellence? I honestly do not know. As the noble Lord, Lord Crathorne, told us, excellence in the arts is very complex. It is based on imagination--one of the least tangible of assets. I believe that we must maintain the kind of environment that supports artistic endeavour and creativity because that is more likely to produce excellence.
The opposite is also true. If we encourage conformity, that is what we shall get. The more we encourage education and training in the arts, the greater the chance of producing excellence. My noble friend Lord Jenkins of Putney--I am sorry that he is not present--wrote a book reflecting on his years as Minister for the Arts, and expressed it rather well:
I was interested to note that the BBC--a great patron of the arts and one of our greatest artistic assets, which takes training very seriously--is currently spending £5 million on advertisements looking for new talent. It obviously thinks that new
Another advantage of education and training in the arts is that it promotes artistic literacy. Artistic literacy helps us to recognise creativity and excellence when they are presented to us. We all know about excellence not being recognised during the lifetime of artists. There was a time, many years ago, when the National Gallery rejected work by living artists. There was a time when Cezanne and Gauguin were called frauds; so were Debussy and Strauss. People said that they could not hear a single melody in Wagner or Rimsky-Korsakov. Perhaps they are saying the same sort of thing today of Harrison Birtwhistle and Chris Offili, last year's Turner Prize winner. But what shocks us today is accepted tomorrow. The noble Lord, Lord Crathorne, reminded us that this is what happened to the "Angel of the North".
Education and training in the arts makes us more able to respond to these challenges, by virtue of our artistic literacy. It also has the big advantage of helping us to bridge the gap between high art and low art. Most high art was low art at some time or another. History teaches us that.
So I think it is important to remember that history is not over; it is happening all the time. We should remember, too, that education and training in the arts is not only about acquiring skills, knowledge and information. It is also about giving students the confidence to challenge what they are learning. I suspect that those who make this challenge are the creative people who produce excellence and make history.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws: My Lords, I chair the British Council, which has the role of promoting Britain abroad. In recent years, we have been conducting research into perceptions of Britain in other countries. One of the resounding success stories for our nation is that we are seen as being pre-eminent in the arts. Some of our finest ambassadors for Britain are our artists, our actors, our musicians, our designers--indeed all our arts professionals.
Your Lordships will be familiar with the art exhibitions and the theatrical productions that the British Council tours abroad. What is less well known is that many creative people go from Britain, under the Council's sponsorship, to other countries to work collaboratively with artists there. They go to teach in the field of the arts and to take part in all manner of creative exchange, which greatly strengthens our reputation in those countries.
World-wide we are also recognised for the excellence that we achieve in our schools of music and drama. Many students seek places here in Britain because they want to take advantage of those opportunities. World-wide, Britain is considered, still, an exemplar in arts education and training. There has been phenomenal growth in this area over 25 years.
I too thank my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Hudnall for the opportunity to pay tribute to our artists and arts professionals, and also to our arts educationalists. As my noble friend said, there are many ways in which arts professionals give themselves and their time to schools and colleges to assist and support them in delivering a dynamic, culturally diverse curriculum. What they provide is education through the arts as well as education in the arts. Many of our children, pupils and students are learning about history, politics and governance through the medium of the arts.
This passion and commitment from arts professionals is reciprocated by the schools and colleges. Arts-led projects in schools are frequently born out of complex creative and financial partnerships nowadays. Diverse partners--local theatres with schools, orchestras with schools, indeed even, as we have heard, our opera houses with our schools--can be brought together to ensure that educational institutions are a hub of learning, not just for the pupils and students, but for the community beyond, a community that is increasingly recognising that lifelong learning can be made a tangible reality.
The only warning I would give is that that ecology of complex partnerships is very fragile, and it needs to be nurtured by governments. It is--and I say this with sensitivity to the great pressures on government--the responsibility of government to ensure that the structures, both organisational and financial, are in place to reap the maximum benefit from this passion and commitment of the arts community and education providers.
I know that the Government recognise the importance of the arts, but, as others have said tonight, there are always competing demands for resources, and so often the arts are nudged to the back of the queue. Because of cuts in earlier decades, it has been recognised that local education authorities have more than halved the advisory posts in the arts. Advisory services are under-staffed by two-thirds in arts expertise. Only one quarter of LEAs have a full complement of full-time advisers or inspectors for each of the four main arts subjects--art, music, dance and drama. Less than half of LEAs fund schemes to put artists into schools, and only one-third support theatre in education work. Indeed, infant pupils now spend less than half the time on arts that they did 10 years ago.
So there are many challenges for us. I ask us to examine the way in which the national curriculum is organised and how schools interpret its requirements with regard to the arts and learning. Should we not be looking at the training, employment and expertise of teachers? I, like others who have spoken, also have concern about the funding of schools and the advice and support services and other resources available to them.
Like many in the House, I suspect, I often receive letters from students facing hardship, particularly students in the arts who, if they are from underprivileged families, find it very difficult to
Extraordinarily innovative and radical work in arts education and training is taking place but the economies in which they operate are fragile. I chair an arts organisation here in London--the London International Festival of Theatre--and it is a wonderful arts organisation. Anyone who knows it always speaks with great enthusiasm for what it has achieved. It has pioneered an innovative education programme that places arts education initiatives not just in a local context but in a global context. It works in many of the most underprivileged parts of London. At present, it has a project in Hackney called Style of our Lives. It is extremely exciting to see the way in which it brings together children of different school ages--secondary and primary school children. It brings together the parents working around those arts initiatives. It provides an extremely imaginative access to the arts.
We have discovered that such projects not only introduce young people to the arts and improve their creative talents but they also introduce them to arts venues which may have been extremely frightening to them and which they would have said were not for the likes of them before being introduced to them through arts organisations and through their schools. The projects help them with communication skills; increased ability in planning and organising; problem-solving skills, about which we hear employers talk so frequently as being essential to modern employability; improved ability to collect, organise and analyse information; and many other talents.
I recently received a communication from the London Sinfonietta, which again was talking about the great way in which organisations and musical institutions like themselves take a pride in the role that they play for others. But it points out that it is all the other additional skills which come from arts education which are of such assistance to young people.
The arts cannot be an add-on. They are an essential part of our national sustenance. We should be creating an ethos of creativity, not a compartment of creativity within our schools and educational institutions. We talk about a creative Britain but it will continue to be a creative Britain only if we make sure that future generations are given better opportunities in the arts.
Viscount Falkland: My Lords, this has been an unusually distinguished debate. It is the first time that I have spoken in a debate in your Lordships' House when there has been absolute equality between the number of noble Baronesses and noble Lords who have spoken. That is the kind of balance that I like to see in this House.
This debate on the arts was most ably introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, who is ideally equipped to open a debate of this kind. It is extremely appropriate that there should be so many noble
This debate was originally on the performing arts and I prepared my remarks for a contribution about the performing arts, not least because it is one area about which I know something, or about which I did know something because I spent some years working in a theatrical agency. So I had a good deal to do with young actors and students. My responsibility was for young actors who joined the agency if we were lucky enough to secure them. My employer scoured the drama schools for suitable talent and we then had to compete with other agencies for those talented youngsters. I had no training to do that, apart from an enormous enthusiasm for the performing arts.
All of those competing against me would say the same thing. We noticed immediately at RADA or the Guildhall or LAMDA the people whom we wanted to watch. It struck me--and I still hold the view--that a talent to perform and project yourself is a talent with which you are born. But it is not enough to have that. Many people have that talent and use it in many different ways. To make a living out of that talent is an extremely difficult path to follow. I recall asking a rather technical question in the House about actors' tax anomalies and national insurance stamps. I made a plea that such anomalies should be corrected by government. A couple of days later, out of the blue I received an irate letter from someone who had picked up on the matter on television asking why I was standing up for people who were rich, pampered parasites and so on. There is a mistaken perception--on which the noble Baroness touched--about performing artists. People think only about successful and famous artists. They forget the great deal of work done by those who do not reach such high levels. We cannot all be stars.
The noble Baroness mentioned the need to encourage audiences for tomorrow. That is an important point. I am extremely concerned even about my own children and grandchildren. With all the other distractions such as the Internet, the new technologies and the new game--with which noble Lords may be familiar--called Pokemon, which seems absolutely to transfix children between the ages of six and 10 almost 24 hours per day, how will we get them to begin to read and to appreciate the traditional arts in order that they may be the audiences of tomorrow? It is a difficult and challenging problem.
I spoke in an education debate on the importance of drama teaching in schools because I had benefited from it, having been a rather recalcitrant student. I was invited by someone enthused by the debate in general--not about my contribution--to a production in a south London school. It was the first production at that school. The play was "Macbeth". It was an ambitious production full of deprived children, mostly from ethnic minority communities. I was most impressed. One would not have said that any particular child would have gone on to greater things as a professional, but the enthusiasm, involvement and imagination were extraordinary to see. That point ties in with the moving speech of my noble friend Lady Linklater who talked about her experience with the little girl.
It has been a fascinating debate. In winding up I should like to mention many of the speeches. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins of Putney, is not with us. He withdrew earlier because he was not feeling well. I met him at supper, which meant that I was a couple of minutes late for the opening speech of the noble Baroness, for which I apologise. I am happy to tell your Lordships that he had recovered by supper time, but of course by then it was too late. He told me that he wished to pay tribute in his speech to Viscount Esher's contribution to theatre. I wish that he had done so. Of course, had he spoken, we should not have had the balance about which I held forth earlier.
I have always marvelled at the training of drama students in this country. The drama schools have done a most extraordinary job. I used to go to see performances at the drama schools. I wondered at the limited resources available to the students and the schools and at the complexity and thoroughness of the courses. That was more than 30 years ago, I am sorry to say. But the same still applies today. There are now four major drama schools in London. RADA is still--if I may say so, not wishing to upset Mr Mandelson--the Grenadier Guards, as it were, of the drama schools. The others are LAMDA, the Central School of Speech and Drama--which was always a wonderful school--and the Guildhall. The latter two are both attached to universities.
The difficulties students face in gaining admission to those drama schools are extreme. They take only about 2 per cent of applicants to their three-year courses. That is tough. Many children are enthused by acting and, perhaps rather like the daughter of Mrs Worthington, they believe that it is a glamorous career. They soon learn that it is not once they become involved in the training. It is physically gruelling and a strain on the imagination and on one's other resources. Those who succeed and go on to lead a professional life have gone through the mill. That is why we have such excellence in this country. It is admired worldwide. Students come out of that exacting mill and entertain audiences from all over the world in our theatres, on television and on the screen--not so much on the screen, I fear, but that situation may improve, although several of our actors have had success in the English-speaking cinema in the United States.
The worrying matter that I should like to bring to your Lordships' attention is the question of funding. Funding through discretionary grants was always inadequate. That situation has now improved; there is more money for the drama schools. It used to be administered by the Arts Council of England but it is now being shared with the funding councils for higher and further education.
The standards for drama schools are set by the National Council for Drama Training, which has always been stringent and demanding. That is why so few pupils are selected for and go through the system and why such demands are made of them. At leading drama schools, for example, there must be 34 to 36 hours contact work per week; that is work with teachers.
Many drama courses are available to students at training colleges, which is excellent. However, the admission to such courses is much more generous, with about 45 to 50 per cent of applicants being accepted. Those students are able to apply for grants from the same pot of money to allow them to continue their training as the students at independent schools.
The Higher Education Funding Council has gladly admitted and received the wisdom that the standards set by the council should remain; it is happy to do that. The independent schools are happy to share the pot of money in such a way, provided that the exacting standards are maintained in order to retain the excellence we have always had from our drama schools.
The Further Education Funding Council has not accepted that. It says that it sees no evidence of any qualitative difference between any kind of drama training whatever. I do not think that is right. The admissions percentages are an indication of the difference between those courses and others.
I do not want to see disappointed young people entering into drama courses, admitted too easily and thinking that they can come out and gain employment. It is rather like media studies in universities. Young people are misled because often such studies do not lead to qualifications which allow them to make a living.
I see that I have run out of time. However, that issue needs to be addressed. I do not know whether the Minister will be able to comment on such funding. I believe that what I have said would not in any way mean that any students will be deprived. However, the keeping of high standards is crucial.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns : My Lords, I too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, for giving us the opportunity to examine why there is a special case for promoting access to the arts and education and training in the arts. There has been general agreement around the House tonight that the answer is simply that the arts make us what we are; that must be right.
The arts and artists play a vital role in society. They not only reflect a society's culture but help to make it. They represent the greater part of what is left behind
It is no wonder that over the centuries, especially the last one, authoritarian politicians have made a bee line for the arts. They have used the arts to promote social and cultural uniformity. As soon as any government start to talk about using the arts as a vehicle for promoting social inclusion, all of us are then at risk of treating them as therapies, not as disciplines of excellence. One must take the greatest care that the arts are seen as valuable in themselves and not just valuable if they deliver the social order and prosperity we all want. In promoting participation in the arts as something we can all do, we must not forget to promote the arts also as pursuits that only a very few people can do extremely well. That was a point I first mentioned in a debate on a similar subject brought before the House by the Earl of Clancarty.
As the report, Crossing the Line, points out, the arts sector is wide. It encompasses dance, drama, visual arts and crafts, music, literature, combined arts and new media. It involves a medley of partners from cultural venues to schools and communities, the youth service, government bodies, the private sector and the arts funding system, about which a great deal has been said in this debate. Furthermore, cultural venues themselves vary, not only from large to small, but also from touring to building-based. Regional differences of course present further contrasts. My noble friend Lord Colwyn was right to remind the House that the arts encompass jazz as well. I shall always try to remember his admonition to take note of the fourth "R", rhythm. Having danced to his music, I know that he has certainly got it!
Perhaps I may turn first to the question of access. When the Minister answered a Question recently about free admission to museums, he said that access meant a great deal more than just admission. Of course he is right. However, this Government have promoted the issue of free entry in their speeches both before and after the election. Whatever the semantics of the matter, what has happened is that they have led the public to believe that they would introduce free entry to all national galleries. Indeed, their press release of 24th July 1998 referred to universal free entry in 2001. But the closer we nudge towards 2001, the more the Government seem to shy away from fulfilling that commitment and the more the buck is passed to the trustees.
However, as has already been said in this debate, the VAT anomaly bedevils trustees' attempts to offer free entry to all. As the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, has explained, the National Art Collections Fund recommends what appears to be a straightforward and comprehensive solution; namely, that Section 33 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 should be amended. Do the Government accept that recommendation?
My noble friend Lord Crathorne was right to draw attention to the importance of ensuring that disabled people are able to gain access to the arts. Here I declare an unpaid interest as patron of the Tourism for All Consortium. As my noble friend pointed out, access is not only a matter of easily getting into a building, important though that is. It also concerns layout, signage and so forth. All those elements must be appropriate. Often, it is disabled people themselves who can offer the best advice on these matters.
I should be grateful if the Minister could respond to the following questions. Are disabled people represented on all our regional cultural consortia? How many museums have a disability policy and a disability action plan? Will this become a requirement for applicants for Heritage Lottery Fund funding? Is access for disabled people being built into the new quality standards that are being developed by the Quality, Efficiency and Standards Team, QUEST? Finally, it has been reported in the press that disabled access at the new Royal Opera House is not adequate. Does the Minister have any news of progress on that matter? Because these are questions on matters of detail, I have given the Minister advance notice of them.
When we come to examine education and training in the arts, we must ensure that the needs of both the enthusiast and the professional are considered. Several noble Lords have spoken in detail on that matter in the debate. Like the noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, I took note of the briefing from LAMDA. I shall not try to repeat his eloquent argument on their behalf in a timed debate, but would say simply that I endorse the points that he has put forward in support of the need for students of drama to be able to train and know exactly how their funding is arranged so that they have an opportunity to achieve excellence.
The noble Lord, Lord Addington, mentioned accreditation in the world of dance. I believe that there is a loophole here whereby students of dance have, in a sense, a government department that takes responsibility for them. However, their teachers and the qualifications they hold are not officially recognised. The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing sent me a briefing which pointed out that they believe this puts professionally qualified teachers at a disadvantage. Can the Minister give an undertaking that he will look into this in the near future?
In January this year the Government made a somewhat belated response to the report on creativity in schools published last spring by the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. The announcement of the Artsmark Scheme is welcome; indeed, how could I avoid welcoming it? After all, it puts into effect one of our own policy proposals published in the summer of 1996 in the policy document, Setting the Scene. That set out a comprehensive programme to promote the arts in schools. The NACCCE report makes 59 recommendations in all. How many of those do the Government intend to support and when will they be implemented?
When we promote access to the arts and educational training in them, we need a flourishing arts sector as a backdrop. I was rather intrigued therefore when I read in a newspaper before Christmas a speech by Gerry Robinson, the chairman of the Arts Council, in which he said,
Tonight we have had an important debate to which I am sure we shall return. The noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, referred to the fact that we came on somewhat later than expected and that we might turn into pumpkins. Perhaps I should give the noble Baroness advance warning that arts subjects can be moved to even later hours. I recall, as I am sure the Minister does without too much fondness of the subject, that at one stage we debated the New Opportunities Fund between two and three in the morning. Let us hope we do not do that again.
I am genuinely grateful to the noble Baroness for introducing this debate. I hope we have the opportunity again to emphasise the fact that we must never sacrifice what this country achieves; that is, excellence in the arts.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Hudnall, in her excellent introduction to this debate, quoted the Prime Minister's Romanes Lecture in Oxford last December. I had planned--and shall not abandon my plan--to use that as an introduction to the rather complicated list of comments I should like to make in response to this wide-ranging debate.
The Prime Minister's views have been echoed in all parts of the House over the course of the past couple of hours. He described the fundamental goal of the Government in education as being,
The Prime Minister quoted a report from a commission in Singapore which described the need to instil qualities such as curiosity, creativity, enterprise, leadership, teamwork and perseverance, developing young people in the moral, social, physical and aesthetic domains, and said that that was our ambition too. My noble friend Lady McIntosh said very much the same thing when she talked of self-confidence.
The Prime Minister referred specifically to music and to the work that David Blunkett has been doing to promote music in our schools. He referred to the opportunities to develop talent in other branches of the arts and expressed warm appreciation of the work for the arts that is being, and can be, done in our schools.
My noble friend was very generous in her speech with her description of the work being done by the Royal Opera House and by Glyndebourne. Indeed, the children's production of "Zoe" has been visited by the Minister for the Arts, who was very impressed by it. My noble friend Lady Massey described the outreach work of Opera North, and the noble Baroness, Lady Linklater, described work being done with schools in partnership with arts professionals in other parts of the country.
However, my noble friend is too modest. She did not describe the excellent access and education work that is carried out by the Royal National Theatre, which has taken on board the need to promote the widest possible access through its programming. It ensures that it has a mixture of programming that appeals to a variety of different audiences, while always maintaining high quality. It is not just about shows aimed primarily at children, such as "Peter Pan" or "Honk! The Ugly Duckling"; it is also about access for children to shows for adults. I believe that we should pay tribute to that.
If we look at the outreach work of arts organisations that are funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the funding agreements we have made with them will, in the course of the next year, be providing an additional 200,000 education sessions. That is evidence of the importance that we attach to the educational role of our leading arts organisations.
I have been briefed to talk about the creative industries as vital to our economic and social life. Of course, that is true. We should not ignore the fact that our creative industries generate revenues of £60 billion a year. They account for 1.4 million jobs; they make a contribution of over 4 per cent to the domestic economy; and they are growing at twice the national average--5 per cent as against 2.5 per cent.
However, the debate has taken the focus the other way round, and I am rather pleased about that. My noble friends Lady McIntosh and Lady Kennedy talked about the excellence and the world-wide reputation of our artists. Indeed, my noble friend Lady Kennedy described them as our ambassadors to the world, which is true. In addition to the economic importance of our creative industries, we should recognise that arts training, which is what we are
I believe that there is some misunderstanding about government polices on education generally, as well as on education in the arts. For example, the noble Lord, Lord Colwyn, seemed to think that there was no longer a place for the arts in the primary curriculum. That is very far from being the case. As the Prime Minister said, we are ensuring with our numeracy and literacy strategies that we achieve excellence in basic skills. But Ofsted says that there is little inspection evidence to support the concern, which I assume the noble Lord was expressing, that literacy and numeracy strategies are undermining standards in the arts.
Similarly, concern has been expressed that the national curriculum could be too prescriptive and could freeze out our arts education. The national curriculum is being made less prescriptive and the contribution of the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, referred, is being taken very seriously by the Department for Education and Employment; and, indeed, is being incorporated into the review of the national curriculum. The noble Baroness asked me specific questions about our views on that report. I should tell her that we have published our response, which I suggest she reads because it covers far more than I have time to cover this evening.
The noble Lord, Lord Addington, turned from the pressure which he has put on us previously to increase the time devoted to sport in the curriculum to say that the same thing should apply to the arts. We are under heavy pressure from all sides, but I think that a proper balance is being maintained.
A number of very valuable points were made about initial teacher training, notably by my noble friend Lady Massey who has expert knowledge in this area. She vividly described the improved teacher training in the arts compared to that which existed a number of years ago. The Teacher Training Agency is carrying out a root and branch review of the circular of requirements for courses. It is consulting extensively with teachers, trainers, colleges, LEAs, subject associations, and arts, music, dance and drama organisations on ways to ensure that the initial teacher training framework gives teachers the resources to teach the arts in schools.
Similarly, there has been some misunderstanding about what is happening in out-of-school activities. The noble Lord, Lord Crathorne, spoke as if the New Opportunities Fund is taking money away from the arts. That is doubly wrong. First, the New Opportunities Fund is additional to the original funds for the original causes and does not take money away from them at all. Secondly, it is actually putting money into, for example, supporting out-of-school-hours learning projects. Many NOF grants include projects involving arts, dance, music and media studies. These are in addition to the lottery grant made by the Arts Council for England for arts purposes. In addition, the standards fund of about £20 million will be available
I turn back to the issue of partnership between artists and schools. My noble friend Lady Kennedy described that relationship as fragile. The Arts Council and the regional arts boards have published Partnerships for Learning, a guide to evaluating arts education projects, which will help them to learn from the best examples and, I hope, reduce the fragility to which she referred. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Arts Council are preparing a document to help schools to develop an arts policy and to establish partnerships during and out of school hours. I hope that that will reassure my noble friend Lady McIntosh, who referred to that point with an example from the Netherlands.
It should be recognised that there is a new national award for schools called Artsmark which is to be a benchmark of excellence for schools to aim for and a symbol of recognition when they achieve it. My noble friend Lady Massey asked about the monitoring of arts education. Artsmark is being developed by the Government with the Arts Council, the QCA and others, to recognise, promote and disseminate good practice in the arts in schools; to encourage improvements in standards and an expansion of arts education opportunities; to raise the profile of arts education nationally within schools, and arts organisations in communities; and to encourage effective partnership. This is part of our response to the All our Futures report to which I have already referred.
Without wishing to neglect others, perhaps I may turn to the particular points to which attention has been drawn. The first is dance and drama training which was referred to by my noble friend Lady Kennedy and the noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, who quite properly paid tribute to our drama schools. The new dance and drama awards, which were announced jointly by the Department for Education and Employment and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in November 1998, provide access for up to 820--at the moment the figure is 830--talented students annually, regardless of their means, to pursue their chosen course of study. That is quite new and is of very great importance.
The noble Viscount, Lord Falkland, was worried about FE provision. In November 1999, the DfEE announced an increase in the hardship fund for FE dance and drama students from September of this year; FE student support will rise by 300 per cent, with scholarships of up to £3,000 available. I hope that will reassure my noble friend Lady Kennedy, who spoke about hardship among dance and drama students.
The Government are contributing up to £20 million a year to fund these new arrangements. The noble Lord, Lord Addington, and the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, expressed concern about the accreditation of
Perhaps I may again pick out one area of which we are particularly proud. I refer to music education. In June 1999, the Prime Minister officially opened the National Foundation for Youth Music, an independent charity set up by DCMS Ministers and core-funded by £30 million of ACE lottery funds--I invite the noble Lord, Lord Crathorne, to recognise that as being a contribution from the lottery to the arts--over a period of three years. Its aim is to improve opportunities for young people to access music-making. It will work in partnership in both formal and informal education in music sectors to attract and distribute funds to provide strategic advice and guidance and will act as the national advocate to raise the profile of the debate on music education. My understanding is that jazz is included in the definition of "music". I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Colwyn, will know that the Arts Council for England funds jazz to the extent of about £1.5 million a year.
The work of the National Foundation for Youth Music is not the only thing. It is complemented by the improved provision by the Department for Education and Employment for LEA music services through its music standards fund, which is £150 million over three years. The second-round allocation was made in December of last year.
Before I leave particular art forms, perhaps I may turn to my noble friend Lady Rendell, who spoke with great knowledge about creative writing. The Arts Council for England provides £1.5 million a year for literature. My noble friend was concerned about student grants. She referred in particular to the creative writing course at the University of East Anglia. Student grants are available for that course, as for other postgraduate MA courses. I agree that that is not the most generous form of provision, but it is the responsibility of the Higher Education Funding Council and the universities concerned.
We should not leave the education side without talking about lifelong learning, to which my noble friend Lady McIntosh referred. The provisions in the Learning and Skills Bill for a single body and a unified youth support service is very much welcomed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We have some significant economic sectors under our wing in the shape of the creative industries, including the arts, film and broadcasting. We want to see these sectors fully engaged in the new learning and skills councils.
There is also the question of ongoing training in the arts. My noble friend Lady Crawley, as a patron of Metier, talked about that national training organisation which has a remit for the arts and entertainment industries. There is also, of course, Skillset with the same responsibilities for film and television. My noble friend Lady McIntosh also referred to the need for management skills in the arts. I
A number of noble Lords, particularly, of course, noble Lords from the Government Benches, have paid tribute to the increases in government funding of the arts. This applies particularly in respect of access to the arts. Funding agreements place a clear responsibility on arts bodies to deliver a clear return on our investment in that work. The New Audiences Fund, developed by the Arts Council for England, provides grants of about £5 million a year to pilot projects aimed at increasing access to the arts. One of the key aims of the New Audiences Fund is to encourage children to enjoy the arts both in participation and in visits. Both of those are essential elements.
The Gulbenkian Foundation report, Crossing the Line, was important in that respect. It described the psychological barriers which some children have to classical music and classical theatre. However, we have heard some excellent rebuttals of that in the debate this evening, which are welcome. We should pay tribute to the Hamlyn subsidised performances at the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House. The Hamlyn Weeks, which my noble friend Lord Hamlyn subsidises, are enormously successful. I wanted to say more about free tickets for schools but I think that that comes under the heading of the Gulbenkian report which we have welcomed. We have an independent scheme managed by the Learning Circuit, New Generation Audiences, which was launched last year by Chris Smith. There are many other relevant examples.
Many noble Lords have quite rightly paid tribute to the contribution which the arts can make to dealing with social exclusion, neighbourhood renewal, health, crime, employment and education. I make it clear to the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, that we do not think that this is delivering social order, any more than we think, like Goebbels, that we should reach for our guns when we hear the word "culture". However, we believe that the arts have a great deal to contribute in what is, after all, a concern of all of us, and that they allow us to invest in individuals who might otherwise be socially excluded.
I have little time in which to deal with disability policy, but I shall answer the specific points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay. Not all regional cultural consortia have been appointed yet. We only know of one disabled person on them, but the Government are looking sympathetically at special provision for disabled people who might become members of cultural consortia. Some 29 per cent of museums have a disability policy, but 15 out of 17 DCMS-funded museums have a disability policy. It is not a formal requirement for Heritage Lottery Fund funding, but all applications must conform to the legislation against disability discrimination. Access for disabled people is being built into the quality standards that are being developed by the department because all applications must conform to the DCMS access strategy and must provide for diversity of audiences. Disabled people cannot get into the stalls at
I do not want to go over the well-worn debate about free admission to museums and galleries. The fundamental point is that access is wider than has been recognised. If I may, I shall respond to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, on VAT when I respond to his debate on that subject in two weeks' time.
I apologise for exceeding the amount of time allowed, but I wanted to respond to as many as possible of the fascinating and well-informed points that have been made in this excellent debate.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall: My Lords, I have learnt a great deal from the debate. It is late and, like a good play, it needs no epilogue. I thank all noble Lords from all sides of the House who have taken part in the debate. They have contributed enormously to an important, but relatively infrequent, opportunity to vent these issues. I beg leave to withdraw my Motion for Papers.
Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.
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A new top boss at Teesside University has come back to his roots to take up the new challenge because he believes "there's no place better".
Richard Tait has been appointed new personnel director at the university.
A former student at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Darlington, he has moved back to the town and says: "There really is no better place to live".
He left the North East when he was 18 to study at the London School of Economics and worked in the transport and clothing and textiles industries for more than 25 years before making the move into human resources and recruitment consultancy.
Teesside University employs more than 1,500 full and part time staff and is now one of the area's biggest employers.
Mr Tait said: "I know the university has invested heavily in training and staff development as well as human resources and I think I can bring a new perspective to build on this good work.
"These are exciting times for universities as they embrace the enterprise agenda and in Teesside's case new initiatives such as Digital City.
"I love the North East. You can't get a better quality of life anywhere."