“+++Update: London/UK: A plea to Boris Johnson to temporarily close grassroots venues

Music Venue Trust has issues an open letter to Boris Johnson amid fears for music industry hit by coronavirus.

This plea follows concerns that the lack of legal restriction on venues subsequently means that they will not be able to stay afloat from insurance for the expected large loss of earnings.

An extract from the letter:

Without a direct decision by the government that Grassroots Music Venues should close, these cultural spaces are opened up to unmanageable risks. Those with insurance cannot claim on it. Those with lease agreements based on trade are in breach of their contracts. Rent, mortgage, rates, VAT, Tax, wages will have to be paid and the entire liability falls on the individual venue operator. We work with those venue operators every day; your announcement has provoked a new public health crisis of unmanageable stress and mental health challenges among this community that was completely unnecessary and could have been avoided.