Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster, Nickie Aiken, spoke out in a Westminster Hall debate to champion central London's arts and culture sector.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 8% of arts and culture businesses are based in the Cities of London and Westminster, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs across central London.

Following the announcement by Arts Council England to cut funding for the English National Opera, which calls the London Coliseum home, Nickie also spoke out to float her idea of a model based on the Royal Shakespeare Company. This sees the theatre company have a base in both Stratford-upon-Avon and the Barbican Centre, City of London. It works well and allows audiences from London and the south-east to continue enjoying world-class theatre while supporting theatre-going and tourism outside the capital. Nickie believes replicating this model would allow the English National Opera to retain its home at the London Coliseum and also serve other parts of the country. She has suggested looking for a second permanent home in the south-west, perhaps in Exeter or Plymouth.

Watch what Nickie had to say in this incredibly important debate.