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More Than 100 British Artists Take UK Government To Task Over European Touring Visas

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran. Courtesy Image.
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LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — Some of the biggest names in British music have accused the UK Government of “shamefully failing” the country’s cultural sector by failing to secure a Brexit deal for artists seeking to tour in Europe.

More than 100 musicians and industry figures, including Ed Sheeran, Roger Waters, and Elton John, signed a letter in the London Times that says the current Brexit deal will make touring Europe financially impossible.

After the U.K. split from the European Union on January 1st, citizens of the UK can no longer freely travel and work on the continent. While tourists can visit European nations for 90 days without a visa, the deal left touring artists in the cold.

The letter, which was organized by the Liberal Democratic Party, suggests that the additional expenses of securing travel paperwork will ensure that man tours are “unviable, especially for young emerging musicians who are already struggling to keep their heads above water owing to the COVID ban on live music.”

During a question and answer session in front of Parliament today, culture minister Diana Barran said the UK has begun negotiations with individual EU nations in a bid to secure individual visa deals in the absence of an agreement with the European Union as a whole.

She also stated that the UK’s previous offer to the EU to reopen negotiations on exempting musicians from the travel requirements, still stands.

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