Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Culture, Media and Sport – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 January 2001.
Mr Alan Howarth
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) (Arts)
12:00,
22 January 2001
My right hon. Friend reminds us that the people of Wales have a passion for opera that is perhaps matched only by that of the Italians. Let us hope that, as opportunities improve, more and more people in England will also develop that passion.
I willingly join my right hon. Friend in paying tribute to the work of Welsh National Opera, which runs admirable education programmes in all the towns and cities in which they perform and tour. It bodes well for the future of Welsh National Opera that my right hon. Friend—in whose Constituency it now has its headquarters—is its champion. I am pleased that the Arts Council of England has increased its support for Welsh National Opera by 8.4 per cent. in the present year. However, the support that the Arts Council of Wales has been able to give has not matched that of the Arts Council of England for some years. I hope that my right hon. Friend will use his influence in Wales to bring about a change in that regard.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
