11:08 Dame Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)

The cathedral church itself also offers great support to the bid for the accolade of city of culture. I mean not only the ruins that remain following the second world war but the new cathedral, which is an iconic building in its own right and which hosts many cultural events, not least the concerts of our own Parliament choir. I sing with the choir, and every other year we join with St Michael’s singers from the cathedral to give a big concert. A great highlight that I will never forget was singing Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”, with Sir Thomas Allen. The cathedral, at the heart of the city, offers some of the best examples of what our country has to offer culturally. However, it is also used for other events that have nothing to do with music. I took part in a national conference about the threats that the environment faces, entitled “Reconciling a Wounded Planet”, which drew people from all over the country to come and talk about what we can do about the deleterious effects of climate change.

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