Touring Europe for British musicians after Brexit is 'not viable', admits minister

Brexit has made touring in Europe "simply not economically viable" for many artists, a minister has admitted.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

In a damning assessment of the impact on musicians of leaving the EU, Chris Bryant, creative industries minister, said the government recognises the scale of the challenges facing professionals who want to tour in Europe.

“Many have concluded it is simply not economically viable or logistically possible to tour in Europe,” he said.

His comments are the most stark assessment of Brexit’s impact on the music industry by a member of Sir Keir Starmer’s top team, and comes as the prime minister is seeking to rebuild ties with Brussels in a post-Brexit “reset”.

The admission came after a parliamentary question by SNP MP Stephen Gethins, who asked what the impact was of leaving the EU on touring artists. Mr Gethins told The Independent: “For years we have known that a disastrous Brexit deal is damaging our important music industry. It makes music and promotion of our artists much harder and in particular difficult for new and emerging talent.

“This is an astonishing admission from the government that the Brexit deal is not sustainable. The question is what are they going to do about it? Labour have told us they will continue to support a hard Tory Brexit and refuse to rejoin the single market or customs union. We know from the Treasury’s own analysis that this will continue to damage every sector.

“I welcome the admission but unless the government does something about it, Labour now owns this horrific Brexit deal as much as the Tories.”