Dear John,

As the UK shakes off the euphoria of Saturday’s Eurovision, our latest research has shown that British musicians are struggling to shake off a much longer Brexit hangover.

Our figures show the number of British musicians scheduled to take to stages across Europe this summer is down a staggering 32% on 2017-19. For artists trying to break through in the industry, Brexit's encore is a symphony of new restrictions and complicated visa requirements that make it very difficult for musicians to operate with the flexibility that the live music industry demands.

Not only are our homegrown artists suffering though, but Glastonbury is losing its European flair and is set to host half the number of European acts as it did compared to the pre-Brexit years.

The facts are clear - rather than stripping back the red tape and liberating our arts scene, Brexit has hit pause on an industry where Britain truly did lead the world.

This summer’s outlook for British musicians is grim, but at Best for Britain we’re staging our own festival of ideas at our Trade Unlocked conference in June.

Together with hundreds of experts and leaders from all parts of the economy, all parts of the country and businesses big and small, we'll be turning up the volume on the problems businesses and workers across the UK face, and working together to drive the changes they need to keep our vital British music scene alive.

For our homegrown musicians, this can’t come soon enough.

Best wishes,
Grace Pritchard
Best for Britain