The list of signatories on the letter, published today in the British daily The Times, includes, in addition to singers, other workers in the music industry, such as dancers, actors and technicians. In the letter, these artists claim that the Boris Johnson government has failed them "shamefully".

The trade agreement signed in December between the European Union and the United Kingdom will allow work and business trips, without a visa, to British citizens from various sectors, but it leaves out professionals in the music industry. Thus, these artists will be subject to the labour laws of each of the countries where they operate. In the letter, British artists warn that they will thus have to apply for “expensive work permits” and fill in “a mountain of paperwork” in order to be able to transport equipment. "The extra costs will make many tours unviable, especially for young emerging musicians, who are struggling to stay afloat due to the ban on playing live because of covid-19," they warn.

In the face of this “failure to negotiate”, which will push many artists “to the limit”, the letter's subscribers urged the British Government to “do what it said it would do”, and to agree with Brussels travel across Europe without bureaucratic obstacles for British and your teams. Among the hundred subscribers to the letter, in addition to Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher and Sarah Connolly, are also singers including Sting, musicians like Roger Taylor, bands like the Sex Pistols, Iron Maiden and Radiohead, and orchestra directors including Simon Rattle.

In the letter, they criticize that, in the agreement reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union, there is “a great void where the promised free movement of musicians should appear”, but neither London nor Brussels assume responsibility for this “failure”. At the end of December, more than 167,000 people in the United Kingdom had signed a public petition to appeal to cultural professionals in this country to have freedom of movement within the European Union, post-'Brexit '.