Thread by @lewis_goodall

Culture minister Caroline Dineage confirms that as a result of Brexit, musicians and arts touring in the EU "will be required to check domestic immigration and minister rules for each member states in which they wish to tour."

That may include a visa or work permit.

Dineage blames the EU, saying they rejected proposals to ensure travel was visa free. The EU has said that's nonsense, that the British proposals would not have solved the visa problem and that they offered a 90 day visa free offer for a range of professions.

Dineage says that wouldn't be "compatible" with the government's manifesto commitment to "take back control" of Britain's borders and that it wouldn't have enabled touring anyway.

The point is this is potentially disastrous for the British music industry and the arts more widely, a huge UK success story. Consider how many musicians are part of an orchestra. How many instruments they have. How many places they visit in a tour. How much paperwork they'll be.

Now the UK may itself be unattractive for visiting musicians and for touring.

In this regard, music may be a microcosm for other parts of the economy. That the cost/time to do business in Britain vs other EU states slowly more uncompetitive vs other European economies.

Interesting first example I've heard of a Conservative minister using Labour's backing of the deal against them when scrutinising Brexit. Dineage says: "Labour voted for this deal in the knowledge of what it involved, including the end of free movement."

Dineage comes back to priority being Freedom of Movement: "Their proposals would have enshrined permanent visa free short stays for EU citizens in the agreement. That's simply not compatible with our manifesto to take back control of our borders."

.@Alison_McGovern asks Caroline Dineage to publish the correspondence between the EU and UK to ascertain exactly what the proposals were between the two sides. Dineage gives a chronology of what happened but makes no such commitment.