CULTURE is crucial and, when times are tight and Covid hangs menacingly in the air, it is one of the first areas to be cut just as venues were one of the first things to be shut during the pandemic.

The All Party Parliamentary Group report on Northern Culture is welcome, if wordy.

Its recommendations talk of devolving more power over funding to local mayors, of creating a “dynamic and creative” brand for the north, of making bids for funding more collaborative rather than competitive, of recognising that the north has a “complex tapestry” of culture because we are not all the same, of reusing dormant high street sites for cultural purposes and of recognising its importance to tourism, the digital economy and health.

This last bit is especially important because culture cuts across so many aspects of life and can be used to both boost the economy and improve on mental health and wellbeing.

The report also calls for culture to be helped to recover slowly from the pandemic and not have its funding taps turned off forthwith. Our report today on Darlington Hippodrome shows how the sector is slowly rebuilding.

Perhaps what culture needs most is some razzamatazz and a win, and in this light County Durham’s bid to become 2025 Capital of Culture is even more important. A pan-county bid, of past history and future events, could be inspiring and exciting as we shake off the dark days of the pandemic, and it could be of great value to our hospitality economy.