Coronation Street Blog: British Lawmakers Celebrate Corrie at 60

The House of Commons, the centre of British democracy ended business on Wednesday with a short debate on the contribution Coronation Street has made to British life over the last sixty years.

The Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle started the adjournment debate sharing how Northern members of parliament had asked him to hold a debate in light of such a big and important anniversary, coming up on the ninth of December.

Tracy Brabin, former Corrie cast member and now Labour MP for Batley and Spen delivered a beautiful speech celebrating all that is good about the world's longest running soap. Tracy told MPs of characters and storylines which the nation had tuned in to watch in their millions over the years, and how some of them crossed over from entertainment into serious raising of awareness for issues such as suicide, sexuality and cancer.

Other MPs from across the political spectrum stood to contribute to the debate, some praising the Corrie crews over the years and explaining how Media City, where Corrie is filmed, is helping regenerate parts of the North West of England. There weren't many present for the debate, it's a bit of a niche topic for most, but those that contributed did so beautifully in celebration of, in their words "the nation's favourite Street".

I'm still watching the debate as I write this and Tracy is still talking with great passion - now about the great Anne Kirkbride and Tony Warren. It's quite emotional actually.

From one iconic institution to another, seeing this debate take place ahead of Corrie's birthday week is the cherry on the cake among a packed programme of events and documentaries as the Street hits the big 60 next Wednesday.

And it's nice to see lawmakers talk about something positive rather than Brexit and Covid-19.

In that context, Tracy closed her speech with a quote from the unforgettable Blanche Hunt:

"In my day, summat bad 'appened, you stayed home, got drunk and bit on a shoe".

Happy Birthday Corrie.

Twitter: @StevieDawson

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