Fashion is in the soul of the UK, says Culture Secretary

The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said the Government sees fashion as part of the “soul of the nation”.

The Labour politician, 45, promised that the fashion world was at the “heart” of the Government’s industrial strategy, while reflecting that the UK has “lost its self-confidence” over the last decade.

Ms Nandy told the Elle UK magazine that she had “very loud and clear the calls from the fashion industry” to reintroduce tax-free shopping.

However, she said this was off the table at the moment because the previous administration “scrapped” it because they thought it had “limited economic value”.

“If it is a benefit, it’s something that we’ll explore, but at the moment, that’s not something we’re proposing to do,” the MP for Wigan added.

The schemes allow tourists to be refunded VAT on goods bought at UK airports and high street shops when they take it back home.

Ms Nandy also said: “You have a new Government that sees the centrality of fashion to the whole country, not just the economy, as properly at the heart of our industrial strategy, which is where it belongs, but also to the soul of the nation.”

Appearing to make reference to the 14 years that the Conservatives were in power before the 2024 general election, Ms Nandy said: “When I reflect on the last decade, I feel the country has lost its self-confidence.

“But we are so good at the things that sit within my remit, whether it’s film, fashion, music, arts, museums, galleries… And they could all do so much more if they had a government that could match that level of ambition.

“And that’s what we’re determined to be.”

She also called fashion good at “interpreting and shaping the country”, and contrasted it to “how bad politics is” at the same thing.

Ms Nandy also reflected on her own fashion choices growing-up, saying they were similar to US R&B and Hip Hop 1990s stars Aaliyah and Mary J Blige, and adding that she was grateful there was “very little photographic evidence” before smart phones.

“There’s not much you can say about what I wear nowadays that isn’t water off a duck’s back,” she said.

“I think the great thing for me is that when I wear something like this (pointing to her Laura Pitharas silk shirt and black blazer) it’s not just that these are incredibly beautiful clothes, it’s that I’m helping to showcase something that Britain is really good at.”

In 2024, the British Fashion Council outlined its priorities for the incoming government, saying it had joined more than 400 other businesses in the retail, hospitality, tourism, travel, and other sectors in calling for the tax free shopping scheme to be restored.

It claimed that the UK not offering this incentive to “overseas visitors” placed “UK fashion designers, retailers and manufacturers at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to other markets”.