Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Musicians from Ukraine and Europe: UK Tours

Thursday 27 April 2023 · 7 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 5 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister offered to address concerns raised about touring musicians and visa issues with the Home Office.
  • Government met with Music Venue Trust to discuss issues faced by grassroots music venues.
  • Minister highlighted UK's cultural cooperation with Ukraine, including support for the Eurovision event.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Rupa Huq Lab Ealing Central and Acton
Ukraine Foreign Affairs Culture, Media & Sport
Context

UK creatives are facing difficulties with touring, including an incident where a German punk band faced bureaucratic issues at the border.

Question

We knew things were bad for UK creatives when, last year, an Andrew Lloyd Webber company chose to take a Chinese production of “The Phantom of the Opera” on European tour rather than a home-grown one, because it was cheaper and less hassle. But last week at Calais, the German punk band Trigger Cut spent three days wrangling over the permitted entry route only to be told they were not professional enough musicians. Since when was that kind of judgment part of a customs officer's duties? Will the Government urgently negotiate friction-free touring? This situation is wrecking livelihoods, our cultural offer and our reputation abroad.

Answer from Julia Lopez

I appreciate that a number of cases recently have caused concern; I am happy to take those up with the Home Office, including the case of Trigger Cut. I know there was also an issue in relation to the Khmelnitsky Orchestra from Ukraine, which was unblocked with help from ambassadors. There are creative routes to come here, but if there are any frictions, my Department is eager and happy to resolve them.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to urgent negotiations for friction-free touring

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Q2 Rupa Huq Lab Ealing Central and Acton
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

Many grassroots music venues are struggling due to the cost of living crisis and need financial support to survive.

Question

Touring musicians from overseas and our home-grown talent need venues in which to perform, yet many brilliant grassroots music venues up and down the country are really struggling. They are so important because they are effectively the research and development department of our music industry, which is our global superpower. The cultural recovery fund enabled many of those venues to survive, but how will we ensure that they are not destroyed by the cost of living crisis?

Answer from Julia Lopez

My hon. Friend has tremendous passion and expertise in this area and I know that, like me, she recently met Mark Davyd from the Music Venue Trust, a grassroots music venue organisation. I discussed with him a range of issues facing the sector, including energy costs and ticketing, and various proposals that involve both Government and the private sector. We are exploring how we can help those critical grassroots music venues to survive because, as my hon. Friend recognises, they are vital to the development of talent in our wider music industry.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide a specific plan or commitment to address cost issues

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Q3 Caroline Dinenage Con Gosport
Brexit
Context

Brexit has created bureaucratic issues for UK and EU touring musicians, affecting their ability to perform.

Question

Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster for touring musicians right across the UK and within the EU. The international language of song and music is being constrained by a barrage of bureaucracy and opportunities lost across continents for generations. Bands from the EU now say they will boycott the UK because of what they describe as degrading treatment at our borders, and most UK bands have given up trying to enter the EU at all. The all-party parliamentary group on music recommended appointing a touring tsar to fix the problems. Whatever has happened to that, and what is wrong with that suggestion?

Answer from Julia Lopez

The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight how valuable and life-enhancing UK music is, including the folk rock that he produces, and I know Europe is eager to hear it. He paints a fairly bleak picture of touring, but we have been doing a whole range of work to unblock some of the issues that have been raised with us by touring groups. There is now a range of visa, transport and other arrangements, but it is in our interest to make sure that those music bands can reach their key audiences, and we continue to look at what other frictions there are so that we can try to unblock them.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to appointing a touring tsar

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Q4 Pete Wishart SNP Perth and Kinross-shire
Ukraine Culture, Media & Sport
Context

A Marks & Spencer store held a minute's silence for the people of Ukraine, highlighting the strong support in the UK for Ukraine.

Question

A few days ago, a Marks & Spencer store held a minute's silence for the people of Ukraine and to honour a Ukrainian employee. There is clearly a huge well of feeling in this country for the people of Ukraine and the suffering that they are currently enduring. Can the Minister arrange a tour for the Ukrainian band? Can we do a lot more to promote the Eurovision team?

Answer from Julia Lopez

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the work of the Marks & Spencer store in his constituency. We are doing a tremendous amount of cultural co-operation to support our Ukrainian friends. We are hosting Eurovision, and that includes £10 million-worth of support to provide a truly collaborative show. We are also providing 3,000 subsidised tickets for displaced Ukrainians in the UK. It will be a tremendous celebration, and it is being ably organised by my dear colleague, the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew).

Answered

Not addressed: null

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Q5 Michael Fabricant Con
Immigration Ukraine
Context

Ukrainian musicians from the Khmelnitsky orchestra faced visa delays despite being promoted on a UK Government website, causing financial loss and damage to international reputation.

Question

Despite the Minister's comments, the truth is that the Home Office failed to issue visas on time to five Ukrainian musicians from the Khmelnitsky orchestra, which was due to perform in the UK. That was despite promoting the concerts on a UK Government website as an example of British-Ukrainian relations. The difficulties have cost that orchestra tens of thousands of pounds. It is important to the war effort in Ukraine that such classical music ensembles can perform here, and this incident has done damage to the UK's international cultural reputation. Can the Minister tell us what action she can take, working with the Home Office, to avoid such damaging incidents happening again with Ukrainian musicians. A number of orchestras are preparing to tour, and we do not want to leave them high and dry like the Khmelnitsky orchestra.

Answer from Julia Lopez

I do not think that anybody in this House should be in any doubt about the Government's wide-ranging support for Ukraine and its people, across the cultural sphere, into defence, and through other huge forms of co-operation. Obviously, what happened with that orchestra is regrettable, but once the musicians had produced all the information that was required, their visas were fast-tracked and they were able to perform in the UK. If there are ongoing issues with the Home Office that we need to resolve, we shall engage carefully with our colleagues, but I think the hon. Lady's characterisation of the situation is grossly unfair.

Not addressed: Did not address specific visa delays and prevention of future incidents

How: Deflected By Claiming The Characterization Was Unfair

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Q6 Barbara Keeley Lab
Ukraine Culture, Media & Sport
Context

Ukrainian musicians are facing difficulties with obtaining visas to tour in the UK, despite government support.

Question

What steps she is taking to support musicians from Ukraine and Europe to tour in the UK.

Answer from Julia Lopez

My Department regularly engages with the Home Office on supporting international talent to come to the UK. The Government have provided direct support for Ukrainian musicians, including on priority visa applications for orchestras and performers. There are a number of ways to perform in the UK, including the creative worker route, which enables workers to come to the UK for up to 12 months. The UK/Ukraine season of culture and the upcoming Eurovision song contest demonstrate our ongoing support for Ukraine.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify concrete steps or timeline for supporting Ukrainian musicians

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Q7 Barbara Keeley Lab
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

Funding cuts are affecting classical music and opera, making the UK less attractive for training and performing. Sir Simon Rattle denounced these funding decisions by the BBC and Arts Council England.

Question

Besides making it hard for touring musicians to enter the UK, the funding cuts affecting classical music and opera are leading to Britain not being attractive to musicians for training or performing. Last Sunday, Sir Simon Rattle denounced the funding decisions of the BBC and Arts Council England, saying: 'When the two largest supporters of classical music in this country cut away at the flesh of our culture... it means that the direction of travel has become deeply alarming.' All these problems, from visas to funding cuts, now pose a fundamental threat to the future role of our world-leading classical musicians. What future do Ministers see for classical music in this country?

Answer from Julia Lopez

I thank the hon. Lady for raising Sir Simon Rattle's comments—obviously, he is a tremendously valued performer in this country. But again, she paints an absurdly bleak picture of classical music in this country. It is tremendously valued by this Government and by the people we represent. Obviously, there is an issue with the approach to the BBC Singers and BBC English orchestras, and we are very glad that the BBC has paused its decision on that matter. This Government have put forward a tax relief for the orchestras, which has been extended. Arts Council England is run by somebody who used to run Classic FM. It has given huge amounts of money to orchestras. We are now funding 23 orchestral organisations, up from 19 last year. We are putting forward a music education plan. We have a whole range of interventions to support classical music in this country, so I fundamentally disagree with the way the hon. Lady tries to characterise the Government's tremendous support for orchestras.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific impacts of visa issues and detailed future plans were not addressed

How: Painting An Absurdly Bleak Picture, Fundamentally Disagree With The Characterization

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