British politicians and members
of the UK media are angry about
new anti-terrorist and illegal
immigration laws that target
non-EU artists and academics
visiting the UK to tour or speak.
The outrage was sparked in part by
Vancouver Island musician Allison
Crowe, who was denied entry to the
country at Gatwick airport in late
May.
Crowe had performed in England
numerous previous times without
incident, and arrived at Gatwick
airport unaware of new laws that
require special visas for foreign
artists and academics, visas only
obtainable through a points-based
system. She was denied entry
and her passport was stamped
“Barred from Entry,” which could
make travel to the UK difficult in
the future. The new system has
also seen other internationally
renowned musicians turned away,
including Russian pianist Grigory
Sokolov, viewed by many as the
world's greatest living pianist.
Many in the British media and
government are describing the laws
as “un-British”. The story
made UK headlines over the
weekend, and in his Sunday column
in The Guardian, journalist Henry
Porter wrote:
“We fondly think of ourselves as
hospitable and open to new
influences. But on the evidence of
new laws that ban artists,
musicians and academics from
visiting Britain without
certificates of sponsorship, we
are not. When a Newfoundland-based
singer Allison Crowe and two of
her band members, Billie Woods and
Laurent Boucher, arrived at
Gatwick to tour Britain they were
arrested, held in cells,
photographed and fingerprinted and
had their passports stamped
'Barred from Entry' before being
returned to Canada.”
Earlier this year a civil
liberties group called The
Manifesto Club began a petition in
response to the laws, demanding
that they be repealed. The
petition is endorsed by dozens of
significant international players
in the arts community.
Since being denied entry, Crowe
and her bandmates have played
successful shows in Aachen and
Munich, and will be continuing on
to perform in Frankfurt, Berlin,
Prague and Vienna.
[Allison Crowe is no terrorist. Photo: promotional photo]
