Latest news with #CultureSecretary
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Lisa Nandy criticised over pro-trans ‘protect the dolls' T-shirt
Lisa Nandy has been criticised for wearing a trans rights T-shirt with the slogan 'protect the dolls'. The Culture Secretary posted the images to her social media page after joining the Pride march in her Wigan constituency. But critics slammed the decision as a 'disgrace' and said a government minister should not be promoting a slogan 'designed to centre trans-identifying men at the expense of women and girls'. 'Doll' is a slang term from the 1980s for biological men who 'pass' as women. Trans people who do not look as feminine are referred to as 'bricks'. The slogan has previously been criticised as both misogynistic, as it compares women with dolls, and transphobic, as it excludes those who do not succeed in looking like the gender they identify with. The term has seen a revival in recent months after a number of celebrities including Pedro Pascal, Madonna and Tilda Swinton were photographed in a £75 designer T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan. Pascal's appearance in the T-shirt prompted a backlash on social media, with commentators saying that the 'creepy' slogan 'dehumanises' women and treats them like toys. It was later used on placards used by activists protesting against the Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not legally women. Campaigners' message 'dehumanises' women Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at human rights charity Sex Matters, said: ''Protect the dolls' is the latest vacuous trans-activist slogan designed to centre trans-identifying men at the expense of women and girls. 'No elected representative of the public – let alone a government minister – should be promoting the slogan of campaigners who are calling for men to be able to identify into any space for women, even those needed most such as toilets, changing rooms, refuges and prisons. 'The Secretary of State with responsibility for civil society should know better than to align with a movement which calls for the law to be flouted. This is naive at best. What's more, this is not a benign demand. Some people are now displaying more aggressive versions of this, like 'Arm the dolls'.' Ms Nandy's T-shirt appeared to have been made for the local event as it also contained the words 'pride in Leigh'. She posted the pictures on her Facebook page alongside a message saying: 'Had a fantastic time at the 10th anniversary of #WiganPride today! Amazing turnout for the parade & celebrations. Proud to live in such a welcoming, inclusive town.'
Telegraph
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Lisa Nandy: I won't watch new MasterChef series with Gregg Wallace
Lisa Nandy has said she will not watch the new series of MasterChef because she was 'absolutely appalled' by the conduct of sacked presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode. The Culture Secretary said she 'certainly won't be watching this series' and believed many members of the public would feel the same. The first three episodes of the latest series of the cooking competition were released on BBC iPlayer on Wednesday morning, and episode one is due to be broadcast on BBC One at 8pm. Wallace and Torode were sacked after a review upheld 45 allegations against Wallace of inappropriate behaviour, and one against Torode for using racist language. The BBC had faced calls not to show the new series, but announced last month that it would still go ahead. The broadcaster said that, 'after careful consideration', it had decided to run the series, adding that there was 'widespread support' from the contestants. It is understood that the broadcaster has edited the series to 're-examine' the prominence of Wallace and Torode, who had fronted the show since 2005. Ms Nandy was asked on Wednesday morning whether she believed it was right for the programme to be broadcast. She told BBC Breakfast: 'It is absolutely not for me as the Culture Secretary and a member of the Government to tell broadcasters what they can and can't broadcast or who they can and can't feature.' But asked whether, as a viewer and licence fee payer, she believed it should be shown, she said: 'As a viewer I won't be watching it, to be absolutely clear about that.' The Cabinet minister added that she had previously watched MasterChef 'on and off over the years but I certainly won't be watching this series'. Asked if the decision was because of what had happened with Wallace and Torode, she said: 'Like every member of the public, I am absolutely appalled that that was allowed to happen in plain sight for far too long. 'One of the things that the BBC has done – obviously it was made by an independent production company, Banijay – one of the things that the BBC has done and rightly in my view, it shows real leadership, is to sign up to a new industry body, CIISA [Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority], which aims at stamping out this sort of abuse in the creative industries. 'They have been very clear that they won't commission work from companies who aren't also signed up to that industry body and those new standards.' An independent legal review, conducted by the law firm Lewis Silkin, upheld 45 of 83 complaints against Wallace. The review into behaviour on MasterChef began in November and was prompted by allegations about Wallace that were published by The Telegraph and BBC News. The report, published in July, upheld complaints related to inappropriate and sexually explicit comments, and Wallace was also found 'in a state of undress' on three instances. There was one instance of unwanted physical contact and other substantiated allegations included bullying and making culturally insensitive or racist comments. Wallace apologised in the wake of the report's publication, but insisted that he had been a casualty of modern broadcasting, which has 'become a dangerous place' for 'working-class men with a direct manner'. A number of complaints were also made against Torode, who was found to have used 'an extremely offensive racist term' at an after-show drinks in 2018. Torode said he had 'absolutely no recollection of any of this, and I do not believe that it happened'.
ABC News
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Bayeux Tapestry to return to England after almost 1,000 years
The Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th-century artwork depicting the Norman conquest of England, will be displayed in the UK for the first time in almost 1,000 years. Officials said on Tuesday that the treasured medieval tapestry will be on loan from France and arrive next year at the British Museum. The loan was announced during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK. The fragile 70-metre cloth depicts the events leading up to the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. The artwork was believed to have been commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux and has been displayed in various locations across France, including most recently at the Bayeux Museum in Normandy. 'The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever produced in the UK and I am delighted that we will be able to welcome it here in 2026," Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a statement. 'This loan is a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France, a relationship built over centuries and one that continues to endure," she added. British Museum Trustees chair George Osborne promised a "once-in-a-generation" exhibition that "eclipses all others". "The Bayeux Tapestry will be THE blockbuster show of our generation," he said in a statement. "I know it will capture the imagination of an entire nation. There is no other single item in British history that is so familiar, so studied in schools, so copied in art as the Bayeux Tapestry. "Yet in almost a thousand years it has never returned to these shores. "Next year it will and many, many thousands of visitors, especially schoolchildren, will see it with their own eyes." In return, the British Museum will loan treasures from the Sutton Hoo collection — artefacts from a seventh century Anglo Saxon ship burial — to museums in Normandy. The excavation of Sutton Hoo was dramatised in the 2021 film The Dig starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan. Other items to be loaned to France include the Lewis Chessmen, the mysterious medieval chess pieces carved from walrus tusks and whales' teeth dating from around the 12th century that were discovered on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. It will be a blockbuster exhibition from September 2026 to July 2027. AP/ ABC
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
The Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed in the U.K. for the first time in nearly 1,000 years
This photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019 shows the 11th century Bayeux tapestry chronicling the Norman conquest of England, in Bayeux, Normandy, France. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) LONDON — The Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th-century artwork depicting the conquest of England, will be displayed in the U.K. for the first time in almost 1,000 years. Officials said Tuesday that the treasured medieval tapestry will be on loan from France and arrive next year at the British Museum, where it will star in a blockbuster exhibition from September 2026 to July 2027. The loan was announced during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the U.K. The fragile 70-metre (230-foot) cloth depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. The artwork was believed to have been commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux and has been displayed in various locations across France, including most recently at the Bayeux Museum in Normandy. 'The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever produced in the U.K. and I am delighted that we will be able to welcome it here in 2026,' Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a statement. 'This loan is a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France, a relationship built over centuries and one that continues to endure,' she added. In return, the British Museum will loan treasures from the Sutton Hoo collection — artifacts from a 7th century Anglo Saxon ship burial — to museums in Normandy. The excavation of Sutton Hoo was dramatized in the 2021 film 'The Dig' starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan. Other items to be loaned to France include the Lewis Chessmen, the mysterious medieval chess pieces carved from walrus tusks and whales' teeth dating from around the 12th century that were discovered on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. The Associated Press
The Independent
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Nandy demands ‘accountability at highest levels' after Bob Vylan broadcast
Ministers expect 'accountability at the highest levels' for the BBC's decision to screen Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, the Culture Secretary has said. Lisa Nandy told the Commons she has heard from the BBC but was 'not satisfied with the response'. Punk duo Bob Vylan led chants of 'death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)' during their Worthy Farm set last weekend, and face an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police. London's Metropolitan Police is also investigating the two Bobs – who perform using the aliases Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan – for allegedly making similar comments at Alexandra Palace in May. Conservative shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew told the Commons: 'Given the BBC are seemingly able to pull live broadcasts when things go wrong at football matches, for example, it's extraordinary that this didn't happen on this occasion. 'Can the Secretary of State update the House on the discussions she's had with the BBC, and why the same thing didn't happen on this occasion? 'What due diligence was carried out by them about the acts that were performing? 'And given as she's said we're still waiting for a response to the previous Hamas documentary, is she satisfied with those conversations she's had and the urgency that the organisation are taking?' Ms Nandy replied: 'No, the answer is that I'm not satisfied with the response that I've had.' The Culture Secretary previously made a ministerial statement in the Commons on Monday, when she said 'it should have been foreseeable that there would be problems with broadcasts'. She told MPs then that she wanted 'rapid action to make sure this cannot happen again'. In Thursday's update, Ms Nandy told MPs: 'I have received a reply to the very many questions that were raised by colleagues on all sides. 'I'm not satisfied with that, and I have gone back to the BBC leadership to ask for further information, in particular, as he mentioned, about the failure to pull the live feed, about the due diligence that was done prior to deciding to screen this act, and also about the level of senior oversight that took place in the BBC during the Glastonbury weekend. 'I think the BBC leadership will hear and have heard the strength of feeling in this House about this, and I expect further answers to be forthcoming imminently.' The corporation removed the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone from its online iPlayer platform in February after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. In a follow-up question, Mr Andrew said: 'I'm as disappointed as she is that they haven't been able to come back with even basic facts. 'There were hundreds of BBC staff there and not being able to identify who ultimately had the final decision on whether to broadcast or not is not acceptable, and I think the chairman (Samir Shah) needs to inform her as a matter of urgency who that was and what action they are going to take. 'While I absolutely understand the independence of the BBC, just as artists can't hide behind artistic expression for vile commentary, neither can the BBC hide behind independence for accountability, and I hope she knows she has the full support of this side of the House as she pushes them for clarity.' Ms Nandy said she was 'grateful' that Mr Andrew had made 'the very important distinction between independence and accountability'. She continued: 'Given the seriousness of what happened – and particularly we heard in the House and I was able to bring to the House the absolute shocking stories of the impact that this has had on the Jewish community in this country – given the seriousness of this, I would expect there to be accountability at the highest levels.'
