LONDON (AP) — Leading British actors including Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Julie Walters are warning that the U.K. culture sector faces irreparable damage unless artists can tour the European Union without visas. Since Britain made its final split from the EU at the end of 2020, U.K. citizens can no longer live and work anywhere in the bloc. British artists now have to comply with differing visa rules in the 27 EU nations. The actors’ letter says the new rules threaten to do “irreparable harm to the U.K.’s creative workforce, our industries and to our standing on the international cultural stage.” Britain and the EU blame each other for rejecting terms on artists’ travel as part of their Brexit divorce deal.
