Dipping a toe in the water.....

[gurnemanz]

But there are certain systemic certainties.

Scotland will become independent, the Conservatives will obtain two thirds of seats on 42% of the vote in England and Wales, Labour and the Liberal Democrats will implode and King Charles will be overruling every other Parliamentary bill on what he sees as a crucial point of principle. In that scenario, the arts will be the least of this country's worries.

This is an important. A rump UK (minus Scotland), permanently dominated by one party is not an attractive prospect for me. It be a rather horrible country - smaller, smaller-minded, isolated and disliked by our European neighbours. The kind of "sovereignty" the anti-Europeans want to deliver is a delusion since we would still be bound by EU rules but would have no way of helping to shape them. They claim to want "control of our borders" but would be giving the UK for the first time ever an open land border with the EU in Ireland.

[ahinton]

Stick to the spirit of the OP, please.

The OP was
"One hardly likes to mention the referendum but I wonder if discussion of our being in Europe in relation to The Arts (and especially music) might be legit on these boards?"
How is it possible to avoid political discussion when addressing this?

Who launched the referendum? The present Tory government.

Who has commented and taken sides on it? Other political parties and members of the electorate who subscribe thereto.

Between whom have the recent negotiations been carried out? EU member states' political leaders.

OK, none of the above touches directly upon "the Arts (and especially music)", but the ways in which a vote to terminate UK's EU membership will impact upon the Arts not least as a direct consequence of the changes that this would bring about in travel and permit arrangements in both directions (i.e. practitioners comin to as well as travelling from UK).

Furthermore, any discussion of the consequences of a vote to remove UK from EU membership must take on board considerations for the other three constitutent parts of UK, not just England and, as the Scots are very pro-EU membership, the likelihood of another referendum for Scotland to leave UK would be that much the greater and, if indeed one such did result in its secession, the impact upon the Arts (as well as much else, of course) will be greater in that it will alter relations between a Scotland within EU and an England / Wales / Northern Ireland still within it (at least until Scotland's secession effectively encourages the break-up of the remainder of UK). An England outside EU alongside a Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still in it would be several steps away but, were it to come about, it would become a very isolated nation indeed - and it would be a most dangerous isolation at that.

In short, then, I really cannot envisage how this discussion could proceed independently of all reference to politics in general and party politics in particular, even though most UK political parties include supporters of both sides.

[french frank]

The OP was
"One hardly likes to mention the referendum but I wonder if discussion of our being in Europe in relation to The Arts (and especially music) might be legit on these boards?"
How is it possible to avoid political discussion when addressing this?

Who launched the referendum? The present Tory government.

Who has commented and taken sides on it? Other political parties and members of the electorate who subscribe thereto.

Between whom have the recent negotiations been carried out? EU member states' political leaders.

I assume you agree that it's bound to break House Rules? So it closes.