Daniel Hannan (ECR). – Madam President, inclusivity and diversity have become our obsession. Everything is measured against this one yardstick, so that it becomes the primary purpose of every institution. A university isn’t there to teach; it is there to have a representative intake. A company board isn’t there to defend the interests of shareholders; it’s there to look like the rest of society. A parliament isn’t there to represent the opinions of the voters, but to resemble them physically. And of course, it’s no surprise that we’re extending our thinking into the field of culture.

Even so, isn’t there something just a little bit redolent of an insecure dictatorship that we’re now making culture the business of politicians? Wasn’t European culture in full flower for centuries before the state started trying to regulate it? In fact, wasn’t every attempt at state patronage a repression of the truly creative instinct? I wonder whether we’re aware of how this comes across? Surely we should hold ourselves to a higher standard than some tin-pot country that defines its national greatness in terms of state-controlled cultural activity?