Talking to the Tories can further industry interests.(Viewpoint)

We had more than 100 people at the reception I hosted for Michael Howard at The Ivy restaurant last week. Of the invitations we sent out, we had an 80% acceptance rate from theatre and television, yet only a 20% acceptance rate from the music business.

We had the BBC's director of television, the chairman of Channel Four, the controller of Channel Five and key figures from ITV--all the big wigs came down from TV and we had a big turnout of important figures from the theatre world. I have had nothing but positive reactions from those who attended.

By comparison, the message we had from the record industry before the reception, was that there are far more Labour supporters than there are Tories and a lot of people have jibed at me for organising these events. The music industry doesn't have an obligation to support events like this, but there are very good reasons why they should.

The purpose of the gathering at The Ivy was very simply that if you have issues that you wish to raise, forging links with the opposition gives you a very good way to channel ...