Labour will introduce measures to make a freelance career “less precarious” if elected to government, shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire has declared.
In a speech to the Creative Cities Convention, Debbonaire sought to position her party as a champion of the creative industry and promised that a Labour government would not get “caught up in culture wars”.
Labour’s ‘New Deal for Working People’, outlined in its manifesto will, she confirmed, extend to offering film and TV freelancers basic employment rights.
These will include the right to a written contract, a clampdown on late payments, health and safety assurances, blacklisting protections and whistleblower safeguards.
Debbonaire also assured the creative industry that it will seek to protect copyright and IP rights related to the use of AI, an issue that Pact and Equity yesterday criticised the government of "kicking the can down the road".
“It won’t be easy,” she said. “This will involve technical solutions that we’ll need to work on, but we will consult widely with the sector and make sure that we build modern, sensible regulation that works for creators.”
She said the Conservative government had “denigrated” arts degrees and “failed to support a pipeline of talent for the creative industries.”
Regarding Labour’s plans to develop courses at new Technical Excellence Colleges, establish a new skills-focused body Skills England, and replace the Apprenticeship Levy with a “more flexible” Growth and Skills Levy, Debbonaire said:
“We know, as you know, that where you were born, who you went to school with, who your parents are, who you know, should not be what determines your future. It should not be what determines whether or not you can find your creativity. And a creative education is just too important to leave to chance.”
