With the advent of Brexit and the countless implications for the UK’s creative arts industry, it can be ascertained that there will be a certain measure of difficulty in artists moving between the UK and Europe.
In light of this unfolding situation and the dawning of realisation that there will be serious repercussions for UK touring artists a petition has been setup to highlight what this situation will mean to UK-based artists wishing to work on a regular basis in Europe. With all parliamentary petitions, it is required for over 100,000 signatures to be captured. This number was easily surpassed within days of the petition going online and currently, the number of signatures is around 220,000 and rising.
There is no denying that since the COVID-19 outbreak some UK based creatives have suffered more than most. In some cases, these artists have not worked a day since the initial outbreak and with these enhanced measures being put in place it will become even harder for some to get back to earning anything close to a regular income.
With UK artists taking pride of place at all levels of the music industry such as clubs and festivals the need for a visa paid or otherwise will have serious implications for even the musical side of our industry let alone the professionals that are responsible for every other conceivable facet of any event. As with any story there is always two sides and while UK artists will be affected it is likely that European artists will also be affected when performing in the UK. This petition will surely bring this whole situation to light when it is discussed in Parliament later this year unless the UK Government are able to unravel the mess that they are currently pushing as a ‘great deal’ with the EU.
