When art can change life

Yesterday I promised to tell you why Pete Postlethwaite changed the lives of thousands of people.

Back in 1996, he made the brilliant movie Brassed Off. For those who haven't seen it, it tells the story of a mining community having to come to terms with the planned closure of the local pit.

They try to keep hope alive in their brass band, loosely based on the world famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band. They enter a national competition which they eventually win. But there in the Royal Albert Hall on what should be the proudest day of his life, band leader Danny (played by Pete Postlethwaite) steps up and makes the following speech.

I eventually saw the film in June 1997 and that speech had a deep effect on me. These communities had their heart ripped out by successive Tory Governments. 200,000 were thrown onto the dole and were just left to rot. That led to incresing rates of worklessness and despair.

It made me so angry and I thought we must do something. I then realised I was the minister in charge!

So I sat down with English Partnerships and ordered them to compile a programme targeted at regenerating these mining communities. I then went to the Durham Miners Rall in July 1997 and told them we were taking action. Funnily enough, I'm doing a Go Fourth rally in Durham this Thursday.)

Working with councils, partners, local regeneration bodies and yes, Europe, we attempted to breathe life back into these communities by rebuilding housing, setting up community centres, training the unemployed and providing better infratructure to encourage companies to set up and create new jobs.

A recent Audit Commission report, A Mine of Opportunity has highlighted just what's been achieved: 

• New business premises have been constructed faster than the national rate.
• Old housing stock is being demolished and new stock built faster than nationally
• Since the late 1990s, job growth in the coalfields has outstripped the national rate.
• Employment rates have risen more rapidly, halving the gap with the national rate from 4.6 to 2.3 percentage points
• Absolute levels of educational attainment, adult skills, life expectancy, income deprivation and crime have improved

Now it seems people are looking back to learn the lessons of what we did then to help those hit by this recession now. And even the Chinese Government has said they're studying those regeneration plans for their industrial areas.

So Pete Postlethwaite and Brassed Off's legacy was to influence government and regenerate whole communities, improving the lives and hopes of tens of thousands of people.

I really hope that Pete's new film The Age of Stupid has the same inspirational effect for those responsible for finding a Climate Change deal at Coopenhagen.