Labour Strangles The Arts; More Rope, More Lamposts, Please

The ridiculous new rules introduced by the Border Agency last year concerning visiting artists and academics from outside the UK are already having a disastrous effect.

Musicians, dancers, academics and artists are finding it too expensive, too difficult or just impossible to get visas to come to the UK to deliver concerts, workshops, talks or in the case of Chinese artist Huang Xu to attend the opening of his own exhibition.

The Manifesto Club have issued a report detailing the whole fiasco, with examples. They also have Facebook group.

The government no doubt think that these draconian rules will help prevent crime, though there's absolutely no evidence that visiting artists and academics have actually been involved in any criminal or terrorist activity.

The result of these restrictions will be to turn the UK into an artistic and cultural backwater and a laughing stock among other countries.

Rope and lampposts.