I just wanted to say what an absolute pleasure it is to be here tonight.
In my first couple of weeks in the job, I held a reception for a lot of our biggest stakeholders in the culture world, and I met Shanaz at an event, who left me in absolutely no doubt about how amazing this was going to be, not just for Bradford, but for the whole country.
And standing here tonight, feeling the energy in this room, walking down the street earlier, feeling a city that is buzzing with its sense of self, it is just such an enormous privilege to be part of it.
It takes a bit of getting used to this, because I'm used to coming up here and saying things like: the government should get behind this.
What you're doing here is really, really special. And I want other people to see what you're doing here, not just what you've done already, but how you've gone about it, involving the whole city and every single community, with all people, especially young people, driving and shaping not just this coming year, but the legacy that it will leave for a very long time.
You know, a reflection on the last few months is that I've had two groups of people through my door. One set of people say, there's a lot of problems, and there are, and you need to fix them. And the other group of people, people like Tracy and Susan, come through the door and say: we're solving this country's problems, and we need your help. And I can't tell you how exciting it is when that happens.
To be here in this young, vibrant, diverse city with its proud, rich cultural inheritance, from the South Asian community to David Hockney, who proudly hangs on my wall as a symbol of what Bradford has always contributed to this country and to the world and will do again.
And that's what's so special about next year, is that for the first time, some people in our country are going to know what Bradford has to offer, having never known that before.
And more than that, it's our ambition as a new government that for far too long, too many people in our country haven't seen themselves reflected in our national story, and it's our ambition and our determination that that is going to change. So that when we turn to face the country again in five years time, we face a country that is far more self-confident, knows that it isn't just comfortable in its diversity, but knows that it is far, far richer for it.
A self-confident country at ease with itself, where people in every part of our country, no matter where you're from or the background that you come from, knows that your contribution is seen and is valued and sees you reflected in the story that we tell ourselves about ourselves as a nation again.
And what you're building here will really put rocket boosters under that. It will be a model for others to follow in the future. But it isn't just that. Tracy talked about the economic legacy that this will lead. Susan talked about the economic investment that it's already brought.
But the creative industries are amongst the fastest growing industries in the country, whether it's film or TV, arts and culture, heritage, video games. These are the sorts of well-paid, good jobs in every part of the country.
And you know what? For far too long, the assets and the potential in places like Bradford and Wigan, where I live, have been scandalously ignored by too many decision makers.
But there's a reason why the film industry wants to invest in Sunderland, because of those amazing backdrops that you see right up across our coastline. You only have to walk around this city to see the beautiful buildings and the open landscapes and how much potential there is here, if we could only see it.
And if you don't think Bradford has that to offer, if you don't think Sunderland has that to offer, if you don't think the Welsh valleys have that to offer, then you've never been to them, and you have no business making decisions about where our funding is going.
I just want to say thank you particularly to Susan and Tracy, who I've known a long time, who are absolute powerhouses, forces to be reckoned with. They're the most difficult people to deal with. They never take no for an answer, and they always do it with smiles on their faces.
But our government is determined not to come in and tell you what you need as a community, but to walk alongside you, to help you realise your own ambitions for your city, for your region, and for the whole of the north of England.
Finally, I just want to say to the young people that I've met tonight, who are the most incredible group of young people, there are moments in these jobs that stay with you forever, and those conversations I've just had over there will stay with me forever.
Whether you're a member of a youth board, whether you're on an apprenticeship, whether you're here on a work placement, or whether you've come to volunteer because you just want to be part of something really special, I wanted to say to you all that Bradford holds a very special place in my heart, because it's where my stepdad, who went on to become a leading investigative journalist, a working class lad from Bury, first in his family to go on to grammar school and then make it to university. It's where he started his career on the Bradford Telegraph and Argus.
Until the day he died, he said to me: it would never have happened if that pipeline and those opportunities hadn't been there. Well, what you're doing as a generation is creating opportunities and richer, larger lives for children who you will never meet, who will never know your names, but their lives will be changed forever because of what you've done here and what you'll continue to do over the coming year.
I couldn't be more proud to be a part of it, I'm right behind you, the whole power of government is right behind you. What is it? Be brave. Be bold. Be Bradford.
