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MU says no shortage of skilled classical musicians in UK
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 5 May 2009
The Musicians Union has denied claims by the Migrant Advisory Committee that they backed a decision to put skilled classical musicians on a list of people in short supply in the UK.
MAC included such musicians on their list of British skill gaps, meaning that anyone from outside the EU with those skills would find it easier to get a visa to work in the country, and they claimed the MU had backed that inclusion. But the Union said this weekend it had done no such thing, and that there are more than enough skilled musicians to fill the UK’s orchestras.
MU general secretary John Smith said this: “We are not opposed to musicians coming into the UK to work under certain circumstances. For example, current migration rules already allow for musicians to come into the country if they have international status, or for key orchestral roles. What we do not agree with is the inclusion of orchestral musicians in the recommended shortage occupation lists because we have yet to be convinced of there being a shortage of orchestral musicians in this country”.
