MP Ed Balls backs the Norwich City of Culture bid

“It is a long way from everywhere else, so it’s a bit of an undiscovered jewel. But everybody who has come from there and everybody who has visited knows it is a dynamic, vibrant place: the schools do wonderful music, the theatre, the university, and the football is pretty cultured as well. I would say Norwich is a brilliant place to become the UK City of Culture.

“I was born in Norwich, my family come from there. In fact my parents met singing in the choir in Holy Trinity Church, off the Unthank Road, and my uncle and my godmother too were involved in school music. I know that Norwich is a deeply cultured place, the school music is fabulous, I’ve seen it myself and I can’t think of a place that would be a better City of Culture.  

“Birmingham, Sheffield and Londonderry are all known as cultural centres, but I think Norwich is the place to explode on to the European and global map through this competition. Everyone who comes from Norwich who knows the music, university, theatre and beauty of the place knows Norwich is fabulous, but I think it’s time the rest of the world found out.”