ED Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, introduced an Ocarina to the House of Commons yesterday. The Guardian Newspaper reported:
“The schools secretary struck a musical note at question time by producing an Ocarina. But he stopped short of playing a tune, opting instead to hold the yellow plastic instrument aloft and declare: ‘That, Mr Speaker, is an ocarina.’ He was responding to an unrelated question from Tory Philip Hollobone, whose Kettering constituency is the centre of the UK’s ocarina industry.”
Also on the 26th January 2009, David and Christa Liggins, Directors of Ocarina Workshop, met for 45 minutes with Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to discuss how the Oc® is helping the government to deliver the DCSF Wider Opportunity Music Strategy.