Culture Secretary has to apologise to Parliament
mainMaria Miller, the UK Secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport has been ordered to say sorry to her peers for over-claiming on expenses. No resigning matter, it seems, but her position is now less secure and that will be a cause of satisfaction to the arts world.
Ms Miller is not anti-art. She is best described as culture-neutral.
Her apology to the house was brusque to the point of insult. She regretted only her ‘attitude to the committee’, not her wayward expenses. Watch here.
Miller completely failed to visit Londonderry during its year as City of Culture. Would have been an open goal for the UK’s national arts journalists…except practically none of them had bothered either.
In defence of Maria Miller (with whom the ABO had a delightful and productive dinner on Monday), it is not technically true to say she is “UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport”. The Culture bit of her portfolio only extends to England. In which case it is not surprising that she didn’t visit Londonderry.
Salutary to be reminded on the Today programme this morning of Miller’s potential role in implementing state control of the press – and the way she abused that position to try and suppress reports of her corruption when it was first uncovered. After her performance in Parliament yesterday her ministerial career surely can’t now last out the weekend.