A lot of my work involves criss-crossing London to visit the many hundreds of projects, theaters, galleries, museums and groups that comprise the capital's astonishingly rich cultural life.

No doubt many people working in race relations sincerely want to make things better. But by constantly drawing attention to race and policing ordinary behavior, they risk making things worse.

For many there is a degree of constancy in our culture; London won't let you down.

After Brexit, we need to design a modern and fair immigration system which attracts talent and investment from the E.U. and the rest of the world.

But everyone, including ethnic minorities, should be worried about how anti-racism is becoming weaponized across the political spectrum - how a lot of people in politics think it's a good idea to exaggerate the problem of racism.

Differences in racial outcomes are not the same thing as institutional racism any more than the fact that far more men than women are locked up is evidence of institutional sexism.

The most anyone could reasonably say about institutional racism is that the 'evidence is far from conclusive.

Paradoxically, just at the point when racist attitudes were declining in society and many ethnic groups were integrating successfully, our political leaders became obsessed with racism.

The creative sector is incredibly important to London's economy in a number of different ways.

I've argued for a much less instrumentalist politicized approach, freeing up the arts and enabling them to deliver high-quality projects.

There are people working in arts organizations who feel that in recent years there has been a sacrifice of quality and excellence in favor of ticking the right boxes and using the right buzz words because that's what their masters tell them.

London centre has a wealth of creative activity but there are parts of London where there isn't a cinema or where library provision is quite weak.

If black artists can win major commissions and international acclaim, why do we assume that to be black is always to be marginal, or in need of special support? We have to recognize how diversity initiatives can make black artists feel ghettoized and, as some cultural commentators have argued, bear 'the burden of representation.'

Barriers today are largely class-based - income, networks, education. And those affect many white people as well.

Oxford is a very special place. You really sensed the value of a good education there.

I think that in the past there has been a kind of cultural resistance to Latin because it's associated with elitism.

It's important that we challenge the culture of low expectations. You need to believe every child can do well.

I don't think a good education should be confined to a privileged few.

Britain has lots of celebrities who are well known and admired today, but we don't seem to have any heroes.

A hero usually rises above the ordinary because he or she exemplifies some virtue that everyone can recognize.

You'd be surprised. A number of developers recognize that having a cultural activity in their space brings kudos. People like the idea of being near to creatives.

But I do love working for Boris because he never stops. He's always fizzing with good ideas, and when you are looking after culture, that is important. He's quite ambitious for London.

The 'Shoreditchification' of certain areas, although it's seen as a negative by some, has actually been very positive for parts of London.

Why is London particularly attractive for artists? It's partly this incredible concentration of organizations that have a long history but also the spontaneous and informal culture and the opportunities in London.

Public art is a unique type of art. It's very different to gallery art because it is something that we pass by every day and it inevitably creates a lot of discussion in a way that gallery art does not.

I think that there is a tendency to underestimate the public.

We want young people to get every opportunity to experience culture, to understand it and to think it is for them.

Too often, it is presumed that young people will only like art that they can immediately relate to. Working-class students may be steered towards popular culture like hip-hop, new media and film on the basis that they will find older art forms such as opera or ballet irrelevant.

We need to have a view that culture has a value in itself, not just in terms of a social and economic value.

I realized very quickly that the main thing that the left was not in favor of was free speech - that there was an intolerance about different ideas and opinions.

At the same time women are putting on the headscarf, they are also going to work, to education, increasingly vocal in the media - and this is the confusing thing about Muslim women in the West,. They are becoming Westernized at the same time as they are adopting their religious identity more strongly.

There has been a genuine willingness from many in the arts sector to try to understand people who are not within the arts elite.

To challenge the dominance of identity politics, we need to champion an alternative universalist approach. This wouldn't mean bland similarity, with everybody talking and looking the same. Instead, it would help us challenge the imposition of formal, ethnic categories and allow us to develop richer differences based on character and interests.

Some Muslim lobby groups have argued that Christian groups already have public funding for their schools and services so they should too. In response, there are now Hindu and Sikh organisations demanding their own concessions lest they feel left out. The demand to wear the headscarf one day spurs the demand to wear the crucifix the next.

Some people think that culture is overhyped and peripheral. A season of opera is less important than the refurbishment of a school, they say. Leaving aside the poverty of imagination and aspiration implicit in such a sentiment, it also ignores hardheaded economic reality: Britain, and London in particular, makes big money from culture.

London's top colleges attract the best young talent from around the world; they're truly a national asset.

As a transplanted northerner, London has always signified big-city glamour and cosmopolitanism. It's part of what drew me here after university.

Londoners deserve a great, free music festival with excellent bands from around the world. They don't need to be hectored about why racism is bad or accosted by activists explaining why Castro is a hero.

Sectarian political festivals are not the way Londoners want their money to be spent. Most of us, I suspect, just want to be trusted to get on with other people and not be instructed by activists about the dangers of racism.

A civilised society ought to make ample provision for everyone, no matter their background, to enjoy the arts and culture.

The people who fund the arts, provide the arts, and research the arts have all produced a consensus about the value of what they do, which hardly anyone challenges. But do the numbers add up? For all the claims made about the arts, how accurate are they?

It would, of course, be wrong to say that the arts have no social value. They have tremendous power and can often, indirectly, make our world a better place to live in.

Paradoxically, by insisting on engaging with Muslims as a separate group, the authorities make many of them feel even more excluded.

Perhaps inevitably, media stories focus on differences, which exacerbates tensions; yet Islamic radicalization is, in part, an acute expression of broader trends that affect us all.

In capitalist terms, art is a global marketplace and artistic labour is too.

Just as a city cannot protect its manufacturing base without keeping its factories, we cannot have a strong arts sector without studios, rehearsal space, and performance venues.

Brewer Street Car Park as the host venue is a brilliant development for London Fashion Week. With its position in Soho, it is at the heart of an area that has long been associated with fashion and creativity in general.

There is a sense of civic connection to the city when you light up iconic buildings or sites.

I think Londoners welcome a spectacular event.

Religiosity amongst younger Muslims is not about following their parents' cultural traditions, but rather, their interest in religion is more politicized.