Warning of Brexit blight on British opera

Richard Mantle, general director of Opera North says:

‘I think you can certainly see over the last 40 years the real value of being part of an enormous talent pool which is Europe… This natural exchange of ideas, of people, of talent that has gone on over 30 or 40 years has really strengthened and enriched our cultural sector to an extent that possibly wouldn’t have been there in the past. So many young artists, singers musicians, directors, designers, all sorts of things, have exported their talents into Europe, they often go and work there and they come back. Art does transcend borders and my concern is that I don’t want to see us become more isolationist again because I think there is a great richness and diversity in freedom of movement.’

Yeah, but he’s a specialist and Brexit voters don’t listen to experts, right?

Leeds, by the way, is bidding to be Europe’s culture capital in 2023. Forget that, if Brexit wins.