Dorries’ blast at Brits
Axing male and female awards ‘means women will lose out’
CULTURE Secretary Nadine Dorries has blasted the Brit Awards for scrapping its male and female categories – warning women will lose out as a result.
In a combative appearance before MPs yesterday, she also took aim at male, Left-wing critics who attacked her promotion to the Cabinet.
Brit Awards organisers announced this week that they wanted to go genderneutral for next year’s show to be ‘as inclusive and as relevant as possible’.
But Miss Dorries, who is a bestselling author, said it was a ‘sad decision’ that could mean women are not ‘fairly represented’ at the awards in the future.
In her first appearance before the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee since the reshuffle, she said: ‘If you wanted to look at who used to win awards for novels and many things in the past, men always dominated.
‘My concern would be that women were not fairly represented moving forward. So I would just be concerned on the genmale der balance issue. Whereas we know we are going to get best female artist, best female producer, best female whatever, I would be concerned in the future that women were not fairly represented in those awards.’
The Brits faced pressure to scrap male and female categories to allow the inclusion of musicians who do not identify as either. Non-binary artists such as Sam Smith complained it had left them excluded.
Prizes will instead be given to the artist of the year and the international artist of the year, instead of best male and female solo artist and best international and female solo artist. Miss Dorries replaced Oliver Dowden as Culture Secretary in the September Cabinet reshuffle and told the committee she received abuse from the arts sector after her appointment. While she said she did not think the entire sector opposed her position, there were ‘certainly a vocal number, mostly, possibly wholly male, who quite used to and quite frequently comment and continue to do so’.
Miss Dorries added: ‘Were they all from the Left? Yes, I think there were a number of people who sadly used my appointment as a means of political attack and that did happen.’
She has previously raged against ‘Left-wing snowflakes’ and was yesterday challenged on her comments. But she tried to laugh off the remarks when asked what a ‘snowflake Leftie’ is, telling MPs: ‘Probably my kids.’
When she was asked what an ‘Islington Leftie’ is, Miss Dorries replied: ‘Again, one of my kids.’
The minister denied she uses the terms ‘quite a lot’, adding: ‘I think I might have used it once in a general term.
‘I’ve certainly never used it as a Secretary of State, which is what I’m here as today.’
She also denied reports that she threatened to cut the BBC’s funding after journalist Nick Robinson told Boris Johnson to ‘stop talking’ in a heated interview.
Miss Dorries is leading a Government consultation on the privatisation of Channel 4, but told MPs
‘Concerned on the gender balance issue’
‘Not fairly represented’
that no decisions have been made on its future.
She said: ‘I know there is all this speculation about “the decision has been made” and “they are going to privatise Channel 4”, but we are not. We are evaluating the future of Channel 4 and whether it is a sustainable model.
‘A decision has not been taken. When we get to the point of possibly taking a decision, when we get to the point of considering all the evidence, then we can probably have this discussion.’
Miss Dorries also confirmed a further delay to the Online Safety Bill, now not to be brought before Parliament until March.
Boris Johnson said earlier this month that the legislation, which could see social media platforms fined for not doing enough to protect users, would be debated before Christmas.