21.06.2023: A cross-party report on clearing the barriers facing UK musicians and crew touring the EU is back in the spotlight as Labour pledged to take action on the issue. 

Last year, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music (APPG on Music), which numbers more than 100 MPs and Peers, published the Let the Music Move – A New Deal for Touring report, in association with UK Music, which is the secretariat for the group.

Chaired by Kevin Brennan MP, the group’s report outlined the action the Government should take to help UK musicians and crew tour Europe more easily. It warned UK music workers faced “more costs, more complications and getting fewer opportunities” since the UK left the EU at the end of January 2020.

In a major boost to the #LetTheMusicMove campaign, supported by UK Music and our members, Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds has vowed that a Labour government would tackle the problems hampering British musicians touring the EU.

Talking to The Mirror, the Labour frontbencher said: “It just seems to me completely illogical and self-defeating not to make it easier for musicians touring around Europe to be able to do so without the weight of bureaucracy.

“We have an extraordinarily vibrant, rich, cultural sector here in the UK – it’s one of our great avenues of soft power around the world.

“Why wouldn’t we want to see them travelling around Europe showing off their great talents?

“We should be making it as easy as possible for them to do so.”

The Mirror highlighted the APPG on Music’s report, which listed the barriers facing musicians and crew looking to tour the EU post-Brexit. The story can be read here.

You can read more about the Let The Music Move :A New Deal for Touring report here.