The UK government has denied claims that they rejected a deal from the EU that would allow musicians to enter countries that belong to the union without a visa.
Despite the government blaming the EU for the collapse of the deal last month, a new report from The Independentstates that the UK refused to agree to the deal as they were "ending freedom of movement."
Boris Johnson's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU saw workers from some professions allowed to travel on business without the need to apply for a visa, but significantly, UK musicians were not covered in the deal, adding huge costs and creating a potentially devastating situation for tours of the continent.
Many UK musicians reacted furiously to the news, with artists calling for more clarity and transparency as well as information on a way out of the current predicament.
The government has now denied these claims to NME, with a spokesperson quoted as saying: "This story is incorrect and misleading speculation from anonymous EU sources. The UK pushed for a more ambitious agreement with the EU on the temporary movement of business travellers, which would have covered musicians and others, but our proposals were rejected by the EU."
Industry figures have now called for the government to give full details of what was offered for UK musicians in the Brexit trade deal talks.
LIVE CEO Greg Parmley said: "The live music industry is already facing a catastrophic situation due to the Covid shutdown. LIVE is calling on the government to give urgent clarification as to what was offered by the EU to enable visa-free tours by UK artists and crew. All parties need to work quickly to ensure that once Covid restrictions are lifted UK artists are able to work across the EU with the same freedom that has been secured for people doing other business activity."
