Liberal Democrat Digital, Culture, Media, & Sports spokesperson, Jamie Stone MP, has led a group of 34 MPs and Peers in calling for the Chancellor to include Government-backed insurance for live events in his forthcoming Budget.
The Chancellor has come under increasing pressure to underwrite insurance cover for the live events industry amid warnings that the festival summer season could be cancelled without sufficient Government support.
The cross-party letter warns that unless the Chancellor heeds the warnings from industry experts to facilitate the reopening of the sector, he could be responsible for plunging “the nation deeper into an existing jobs and mental health crisis.”
After sending the letter, Jamie Stone MP commented: “This cross-party effort demonstrates that the issue of live events impacts every part of the country. The industry has been brought to its knees over the past year and its only hope for a successful reopening is a Government-backed insurance scheme.
“We have seen warnings from the Association of Independent Festivals that 92.5 percent of its members say that they cannot stage events without insurance. It cannot be right that the country is robbed of an economic and cultural rejuvenation so desperately needed by all of us.
“The Government already has a scheme like this in place for terrorism losses. The knowledge and expertise is there, all they have to do is replicate this model for live events ahead of the summer.”