Thom Yorke answers Lord Frost on the Brexit touring crisis

Thom Yorke has answered Lord Frost, the minister in charge of Brexit, who says it is not his job to solve the touring crisis facing British musicians. Yorke retweeted The Independent's report on Tuesday 29 June and added oh yeah pal? you think?¹

Frost says the problem is for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to take forward with British embassies, and points out that British musicians can already work without visas in 17 EU countries. Senior EU sources told The Guardian that no approach at all has been made to remove work visa barriers for artists.

Days earlier Elton John told The Observer he was livid with the government, that Brexit's rules are crucifying young musicians and that his talks with Frost had got nowhere. Frost's answer was that John's first hits came before Britain joined the European Community.

According to Pollstar, Radiohead were one of more than 200 acts, New Order and Wolf Alice too, to back #LetTheMusicMove on 23 June. The campaign, from the Music Managers Forum and the Featured Artists Coalition, wants help with the new costs of touring the EU, a fix for the cabotage rules that limit British tour vehicles in Europe and a lasting way to work there without costly permits.

In January Yorke called the government spineless over the visa failure. In February Colin Greenwood wrote in The Guardian that the European touring which built Radiohead's first audience may now be closed to new bands.