The PM tells of his excitement at the start of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008.
Read the transcript for the film below:
Gordon Brown:
I’m delighted to offer my congratulations and my best wishes to the city of Liverpool at the start of your year as European Capital of Culture. The quality and diversity of culture in Britain is truly world class, and this fantastic programme drawing on culture from all round the world provides the perfect opportunity to showcase the contribution that Liverpool makes to our world-class reputation.
There’s music, the Beatles, of course, but so many other great singers, bands and performers before and since. There’s football, Liverpool and Everton, two clubs with extraordinary tradition and success to their name. There are the great buildings and the atmosphere. This is the most filmed city in the UK, apart from London, and this is the place where more people visit museums and galleries more often than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. This is a city steeped in culture and very much alive to it. And now is the perfect opportunity to show that to the world. People are going to come from across Britain and Europe and further afield and from right across the city. They will come to see Sir Simon Rattle perform in his home town, to hear Sir Paul McCartney headlining at Anfield, to witness a magical new street theatre creation from the artists that thrilled London with the Sultan’s Elephant, and they will come to participate in hundreds of other events throughout the year. And I know that the people of Liverpool are going to provide an enthusiastic audience and a very warm welcome to visitors.
My personal hopes for this year are first that people of Liverpool and the Northwest continue to benefit from being a capital of culture, following the substantial investment in regeneration that’s been made over the past few years. And secondly that Liverpool in 2008 inspires more people from all walks of life to try out new and different cultural activities, things they might not have been interested in before. And finally that Liverpool’s cultural institutions that have made this programme possible will continue to thrive and flourish as part of the legacy of this year. So I wish Liverpool every success with your Capital of Culture year in 2008 and beyond, and I look forward to the great celebrations.
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