Elsewhere in his speech, Graham championed public service broadcasters, which he said must not be taken for granted. Referring to critics of the BBC, he said: "Don't they realise that without the BBC, we lose our competitive advantage over the US markets? That not-for-profit means British stories, set in British communities, with British characters are protected by the licence fee, and may disappear without it?" Elsewhere, Graham suggested the new Labour government "should allow culture to play an active part in this promised national renewal – not just kept at arms-length in its own silo on the peripheries of policy making, as it so often is". He added: "Creativity and arts subjects have been systematically stripped from the education system in England over the past 15 years. "A reduction of nearly half of all drama teachers, gone from those state schools since 2010.