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question is they so soon no a jerk

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George Galloway speaker I'm relieved up

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to a point that I don't have to come

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here this evening and savage as an enemy

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of the people the minister opposite to

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denounce him as Philistine and the

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cultural vandamm I'm relieved both

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because i have always myself considered

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him rather an adornment to the

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government of brutes in which he sits a

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civilized man a kind of lipstick on the

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pig but the second reason that I'm

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relieved is because any meeting that he

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graciously gave my colleagues and I just

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a day or two ago up to a point he rather

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shot my Fox because there I was with my

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parliamentary colleagues there are four

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parties represented in Parliament from

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bradford district and we were absolutely

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united and leading what looked like you

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could become a mass campaign of the

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entire city and district against a

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proposed act of cultural vandalism which

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the minister disarmed in the first line

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of the meeting by telling us that the

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bradford national media museum would not

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close and we're grateful to him for that

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though he'll forgive us if we want to

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look the gift horse a little closer in

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the mouth because there are more ways of

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course of closing somewhere than simply

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locking its doors but we're grateful

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that the minister had the sense to

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listen to the public led by the full

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parliamentarians or the parliamentarians

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from the four parties five of us in

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total and the City Council and the local

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newspaper the telegraph and argus there

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was as I seeing a crescendo of

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opposition to

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this proposed closure and it's only

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right to command a minister that listens

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and I hope I don't spoil his chances in

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the forthcoming reshuffle but I wish him

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well and I'm grateful to him up to the

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point that I must know part company from

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him the national media museum is a

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fundamental to Bradford it's a national

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treasure but it's absolutely fundamental

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to Bradford a city with a sea of

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troubles with mass unemployment mass

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poverty mass child poverty record infant

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mortality rates record deaths in

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hospitals and so on it is a place with

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so many problems that it could not

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afford another if this closure has

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leaked and I'll come to that point in a

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minute had gone ahead it could have been

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a death blow to a great city which in

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1903 was the richest city per capita in

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England but which now in 2013 doesn't

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have its troubles to seek particularly

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in the city center where we have a hole

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in the ground where Westfield was

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supposed to be where when I arrived

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there at least 15 months ago the Odeon

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building iconic was crumbling and shrink

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wrapped and looking like it was going to

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fall down and if the national media

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museum had closed on the back of this

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desertification of the city center it

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could have been a death blow so I'm

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grateful that the government have

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announced that it's not going to close

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and that in part is because the public

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expenditure cuts in this age of

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austerity which the government are

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imposing on the country have turned out

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in the case of this department at least

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not to be as severe as planned ten

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percent were told in authoritative media

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briefings

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has been reduced to five percent but as

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the late and lamented trade union leader

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are and fish are once said five percent

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of bugger all is burger oh and five

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percent of a very shrunken budget is

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going to be a serious blow nonetheless

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and so my first question to the minister

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Choi hope he will address is this the

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museum is not going to close wonderful

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but what's going to happen to the

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capital program what's going to happen

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to the capital expenditure on the

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building is the building to be not

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closed but allowed to crumble are the

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vitally needed changes that are

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physically needed in the building not

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going to be possible because as my

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colleagues and I will advance and did in

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our meeting with the minister there are

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many things that need to change about

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the national media museum so that's the

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first question the second question I

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want to ask the minister is this that I

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have real doubts as to whether this

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national media museum belongs in the

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science group of museum at all after all

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media to me is an art rather than a

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science of course the science of how

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film radio television gets into your

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living room or your cinema is

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interesting but it's not as interesting

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as the content of the film radio and

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television the national media museum and

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Bradford is the repository of the

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National BBC archive but who knows about

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it who can access who can see it I

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believe that the whole question of this

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National Science Museum's group should

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be brought into question by this

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referring too big of course multiple

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friend I'm delighted grave tomorrow

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friend forgiving wed but on the point of

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the BBC the minister will know that

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there was a radio station within the

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National Museum that was supported by

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BBC that left at March of this year

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without any fight from the media museum

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about it going and that's why we all

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smell two rats if you like

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an island friend may want to comment on

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that that they allowed people at BBC to

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leave without a fight and that surely

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had an impact on the visitor numbers to

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the museum undoubtedly it was one of the

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most popular attractions mr. Deputy

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Speaker interactive people getting

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behind the desk make-believe interviews

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and so on future politicians who are

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being groomed in Bradford in that studio

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now gone and no fight put up for it

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indeed skipping ahead a moment to what I

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was going to say I belong to that school

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of socialists that belonged to the dunk

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chopping school I don't care what of the

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cat is black or white as long as it

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catches mice so I want to in the few

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minutes I have advanced this point of

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course the state must be a major

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stakeholder in museums and things like

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free admission must are all course be

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defended because we have half a million

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visitors to the museum it's done from a

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million it's true but it's not nothing

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and I'm not half a million most of them

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the overwhelming majority of them are

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from yorkshire and humberside and most

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of them very unusually for a museum are

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from lower socioeconomic groups the

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charging would be a death note for us

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and the state must be there to guarantee

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that that does not happen but the BBC is

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a national institution deeply in need of

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a new lick of paint to renovate its

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tattered public reputation what isn't

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the BBC help to pay for the national

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media museum why can't the BBC logo that

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used to be at White City be up on that

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building their archive is there the

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public pays for the BBC and have a nose

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any money they spend on the national

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media museum might save us from some

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hours of tripe which is included in

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their output I am sorry to say the BBC

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or other media outlets I'm not arguing

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for the rehabilitation of mr. Rupert

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Murdoch here though I did write to his

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Highness Prince Waleed bin Talal with

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his great media interests and ask him to

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sponsor the museum that's how desperate

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I was mr. Dabney speaker perhaps I

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glad to see he didn't reply yes can I

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first of all commend the Honourable

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gentleman my parliamentary neighbor for

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not only securing this debate but for

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the way he has worked with all the other

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Bradford MPs in order to secure the

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future of the museum and I a foursome

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tribute to him for doing that would you

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agree with me that it goes to show that

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although we may disagree wildly on lots

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of issues that we do all have the best

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interest of the bradford district at

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heart and that it shows that when we do

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work together what we can achieve and

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what are you join with me in saying to

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the minister and the science group of

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museum that we will continue to work as

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Bradford MPs on a united front not just

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to secure the short term future of the

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museum but also to make sure it has a

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long-term viable future as well I'm

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grateful for that mr. deputy speaker and

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it's absolutely true and it's quite a

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real species a northern Tory MP and our

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district has two of them and they turned

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out both to be able and dedicated

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parliamentarians and they were ready

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without qualification to throw

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themselves into a more obvious Popular

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Front led by my my friend from Bradford

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south and I and the Liberal Democrats

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too in the case of the member for

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Bradford each we all came together as

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one hand and I think we we moved

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mountains and I at least this leak of a

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closure gave us the opportunity to show

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what politics can do what public opinion

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can do how governments can be influenced

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and made to listen but thinking along

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the lines I was just earlier describing

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if the media should be paying something

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towards the national media museum the

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country gives a fortune to the train

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operators the privatized train operators

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why can't we force them to help my other

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and wonderful friend from York to make

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sure that the future of the Museum

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National Railway Museum in York is

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secured not just kept open this is a

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point where all keen to make keeping

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something open and letting it crumble

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and die is no use

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these are national treasures if our

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country can strut around the world at

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the g8 the g20 when we're not bugging

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people telling them how I'm sorry the CD

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notice on that telling them how

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important our country we are then we can

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certainly pay for the upkeep of these

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national treasures equally the museum of

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science and industry in Manchester which

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I visited a week or so ago is another

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national treasure imagine the idea of

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Manchester the workshop of the workshop

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of the world having its Museum of

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Industry closed but why isn't industry

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helping to pay for that museum after all

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it's a showcase of British industry

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indeed wires in the minister's

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department at all the museum in

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Manchester could more I think

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satisfactorily fit into the department

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of business or what used to be Trade and

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Industry thus relieving the pressure on

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the department in making the investment

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that's necessary in our Museum I believe

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some may say what's in a name but why is

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our museum called the national media

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museum indeed in the age of Leveson the

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word media doesn't have immediately

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attractive connotations why shouldn't we

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call it the National Museum of film

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radio and television then it would did

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we do what it says on the tin and

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everybody loves film radio and

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television and moreover with the archive

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there there's no reason why we couldn't

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fill that museum every afternoon showing

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some of the jewels in the crown of the

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BBC National Archive we have been about

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doing I also express my gratitude to the

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remember from Bradford West cool and you

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initiating this debate little early you

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refer to the leaking of the state of the

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the group as a whole but the media

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museum in particular I'm particularly

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annoyed about that being in that we

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should have to rely on a

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rather than a more mature approach which

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would have been to have involved at a

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much earlier stage the MPS a number of

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suggestions have already been put

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forward by tonight by the unremember

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from bradford west but i believe

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collectively we could have worked much

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harder much sooner and all the hysteria

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indeed the huge anxiety which was

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created across the bradford district

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could possibly have been avoided did so

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and the Honourable member was right to

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be cross about that in the meeting that

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we had although being a half a glass

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half full man I saw as having given us

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an opportunity to shine but the

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Honourable member is absolutely right

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and this brings me to perhaps the only

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discordant note I intend to make the

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minister must listen to this please the

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performance of the leadership of the

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Science Museum's group has been sadly

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lacking in this affair indeed we had the

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spectacle of the leadership of the group

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rubbishing the performance of museums

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under their own purview apparently

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oblivious to the obvious fact that if

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these museums were underperforming they

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themselves were being paid rather a lot

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of public money to preside over there

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under performance and I must say to the

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minister