News

Independent Venue Week: Jeremy Corbyn calls for urgent action to save the future of British live music

Website headers
In a written exclusive in Kerrang! magazine, Peace & Justice Project founder and former Labour leader calls for government action to secure long-term sustainability for grassroots music venues.

The open letter, published to coincide with Independent Venue Week, called on the government to take immediate action to secure the long-term and sustainable future of the UK's grassroots music venues through the creation of a Grassroots Music Venue Support Fund, which could be paid for by a small levy on corporate sponsors of large music arenas, as per the Music For The Many campaign launched by Peace & Justice Project.

Corbyn highlighted the importance of swift government action in saving at-risk grassroots music venues: “The choice for those in power is clear: act now to save our grassroots music venues, or allow things to continue as they are and face an irreparable loss to the future of British live music.”

In November last year, the Peace & Justice Project launched the ‘Music For A Ceasefire’ open letter signed by over 1300 artists, including Sam Fender, Declan McKenna, The Last Dinner Party, IDLES, in a call for an end to the bombardment of Gaza.

Read Jeremy Corbyn’s full “The government must act now to protect grassroots music venues” open letter here.