Stormzy has been praised in the Commons for speaking about the importance of mental health after his “tour de force” performance at the Brit Awards.
The grime artist, who won two of the top gongs at the ceremony, was congratulated by shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz, while the SNP’s Pete Wishart said it was “great” that artists were reminding the Government to “do the right thing”.
In his Brits performance, Stormzy said: “Theresa May where’s the money for Grenfell? What you thought we just forgot about Grenfell?”
Speaking during Business questions in the Commons, Ms Vaz said Stormzy “encouraged everyone to vote, pray and speak out about mental health issues”.
“He won the best album and the best male artist: Stormzy, congratulations.”
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said: “I also am always very happy to pay tribute to people who speak out about the importance of resolving the mental health of the nation.”
Mr Wishart, the SNP’s Commons leader, said it had “taken our musicians to remind this Government to do the right things”.
“(Ms Vaz) is quite right to mention Stormzy and his tour de force performance last night when he asked ‘where’s the money for Grenfell, you thought we were all going to forget about Grenfell, well we’re not’, and it’s great that our artists and our young people and our musicians are reminding this Government to do the right thing.”
File picture of Pete Wishart on keyboards with the rest of the MP4 parliamentary group (Anthony Devlin/PA)
Mrs Leadsom replied: “Resolving the appalling tragedy to enable people to carry on with their lives to turn around the appalling physical and mental scars from that awful, awful night is an absolute priority for the Government and it will remain so.”
Mr Wishart also spoke of his regret that the parliamentary rock group, MP4, in which he plays the keyboard, was not recognised at the awards.
He told MPs: “I had the good fortune of being at the Brits last night to see the cream of British musical talent on show.
“And before (the Commons Speaker John Bercow) asks, MP4 were once again passed over for the parliamentary rock band of the year, shamelessly.”
Mrs Leadsom said she was “sure MP4 will have their day”.