MPs call for Home Office action to ease Brexit pain for musicians and travel industry
MPs have written to the Home Secretary calling for action to support struggling musicians and travel industry
Cross party commission says Government inaction is damaging opportunities for musicians and increasing delays for holiday makers
New ONS statistics show UK daily flights were down 14% compared to 2019 amid reports of staff shortages
Commission calls for addition of aviation sector to Shortage Occupation List and visa exemptions for touring musicians
In a new letter addressed to the Home Office this week the UK Trade and Business Commission has called on the government to allow for greater mobility, in both directions, between the UK and the EU to prevent travel disruption and ensure emerging British musicians do not miss out on formative opportunities.
The call from MPs and business leaders comes as British Airways this week suspended all ticket sales on the airline’s domestic and European routes until 15 August, citing Brexit-related staff shortages and as long delays continue at the port of Dover.
Recent research has also shown that the number of British musicians playing at EU festivals this summer has fallen by 45% compared with the period immediately before Brexit and the pandemic as British acts are also disadvantaged with red tape and travel uncertainty post-Brexit.
In a live evidence session on the issues currently facing the travel and music industries in the UK, experts from both sectors explained the significant challenges they face with many citing labour shortages and increased costs of administration and compliance following Brexit.
In their letter, the cross party group summarised the main issues including:
A lack of labour mobility from the EU to the UK and stringent visa requirements discouraging overseas talent.
Brexit labour policy causing UK nationals to lose out on employment opportunities in the EU to EU workers.
Visa requirements, carnets and rules on cabotage making touring more difficult for British musicians disproportionately impacting emerging UK talent.
Current Government policies not recognising the international nature of the travel and music industries with the impact being felt by the UK economy and consumers.
They recommend that the aviation sector should be included in the Shortage Occupation List and a cultural exemption to the TCA for visas for touring musicians should be considered.
Hilary Benn MP, co-convenor of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said:
“The Government’s ill-conceived Brexit deal should not be allowed to go on affecting the creativity and prosperity of our young musicians or the plans of British holidaymakers.
“Having taken evidence from experts, we have set out in a letter to the Home Office a number of practical steps that ministers could take to make things better. The choice facing them is to act now or sit on their hands and watch these problems continue.”
Speaking at the UKTBC evidence session, Luke Petherbridge, Director of Public Affairs ABTA, said:
“Clearly the industry did ask for aviation critical roles to be added to the shortage occupation list but the Government wasn’t willing to do that so we would say there are visa routes that could be explored that would help to mitigate the challenges we’re facing.
“For our part of the sector this is about labour mobility generally…it’s actually the ability to move staff in both directions between the UK and EU…we’re seeing very significant operational challenges putting on trips to Europe”