Cabinet minister George Eustice stressed there is a “difficult public finance environment” after Dua Lipa used her Brit Awards acceptance speech to call for an NHS pay rise.
Lipa was the big winner at the female-dominated Brit Awards, which marked the return of live music to the O2 Arena after more than a year.
She won both best female solo artist and the coveted best album award, using her first speech to call for a pay rise for NHS workers and her second to demand a posthumous bravery award for 20-year-old Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole, who recently died after jumping into the River Thames to save a woman.
Last modified on Wed 12 May 2021 06.31 EDT
Dua Lipa has topped the winners at the 2021 Brit awards, calling for Boris Johnson to approve “a fair pay rise” for frontline NHS staff as she picked up gongs including the top prize of British album for her chart-dominating disco spectacular Future Nostalgia.
She also won female solo artist, bringing her total Brit award tally to five and cementing her position as one of the UK’s most successful and critically acclaimed pop stars.
Receiving the latter award and addressing the 2,500 key workers given tickets to the show, she said: “It’s very good to clap for [frontline NHS staff], but we need to pay them,” as she dedicated her award to nurse and healthcare pioneer Dame Elizabeth Anionwu.
Dua Lipa was the big winner at a female-dominated Brit Awards, marking the return of live music to the O2 Arena after more than a year.
Little Mix, Arlo Parks, US rockers Haim and Billie Eilish were also among the acts who took home gongs at the London venue on Tuesday night.
The event, which featured an audience of 4,000 people, took place as part of the Government’s live events pilot scheme and 2,500 tickets were gifted to key workers from the Greater London area, many of whom wore blue.
The Brits’ voting academy underwent a major overhaul in 2017 to make it more gender balanced and diverse, with hundreds of new members invited to join the pool.
Headie One leaves a Brit of an impression
HEADIE ONE: Brits performance grabs attention
IN A solid performance involving social commentary with support from from AJ Tracey and superstar designers Virgil Abloh and Louis Vuitton, Headie One made a statement on his mission to reclaim the genre of the voice of unheard and disenfranchised youth
Rather than offering a stock standard performance, Headie used the stage to speak out against the long-running negative and often racist stereotypes associated with Drill music.
Standing in a box designed by Abloh, Headie One spat
‘some say it’s a symptom of societal failings’ and
Last modified on Sat 8 May 2021 00.10 EDT
Body by Tion Wayne and Russ Millions has become the first drill song to claim the UK No 1 spot, in what has been described as a landmark moment for the rapidly growing music genre.
The catchy song that has inspired a number of viral social media trends, largely on TikTok, racked up 71,000 chart sales and 10.7m streams this week, powered by a remix featuring Bugzy Malone, Fivio Foreign, Darkoo, Buni, ArrDee and E1 and ZT.
The latest victory builds on significant commercial success for both Wayne, whose song I Dunno peaked at No 7, and Millions, whose song Gun Lean became the first drill track to make the Top 10 in 2019.