SIR – The EU referendum is the biggest democratic decision of our time, and will have far-reaching consequences for generations to come.
The referendum forces us to look in the mirror and ask ourselves: what kind of nation do we want to be? Are we outward-looking and open to working with others to achieve more? Or do we close ourselves off from our friends and neighbours at a time of increasing global uncertainty?
From the smallest gallery to the biggest blockbuster, many of us have worked on projects that would never have happened without EU funding or collaborating across borders. Britain is not just stronger in the EU, it is more imaginative and creative. Our global creative success would be severely weakened by walking away.
And what would “Out” really mean? Leaving the EU would be a leap into the unknown for millions of people in the UK who work in the creative industries, and for the millions more at home and abroad who benefit from the vibrancy of Britain’s cultural sector.
From the Bard to Bowie, British creativity inspires the world. We believe being part of the EU bolsters Britain’s leading role on the world stage. Let’s not become an outsider shouting from the wings.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Abi Morgan
Adam Broomberg
Oliver Chanarin
Adrian Scarborough
Akram Khan
Alexandra Shulman
Alexis Taylor
Alex Kapranos
Alfonso Cuarón
Alistair Spalding
Allie Esiri
Allon Zloof
Gus Unger-Hamilton
Joe Newman
Thom Green
Amahra Spence
Amanda Levete
Amanda Nevill
Amir Amor
Andrew Hurst
Andrew Kötting
Andy Harries
Sir Anish Kapoor
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Schmitz
Annoushka Ducas
Anoushka Shankar
Anthony Burrill
Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Arlene Phillips
Asif Kapadia
Baroness King of Bow
Bella Freud
Ben Evans
Ben Harris
Ben Rivers
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benjamin Caron
Bill Nighy
Bob Hardy
Bob Smith
Roberta Smith
Brian Blessed
Bridget Floyer
Bryony Gordon
Caro Newling
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Main
Caroline Skinner
Carrie Cracknell
Charles Finch
Charles Saumarez Smith
Charlotte Mendelson
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chris Dercon
Chris Jackson
Christine Molloy
Christopher Wright
Cornelia Parker
Daniel Fletcher
Daniel Rubin
Danny Boyle
Dave Haslam
Dave Price
David Adjaye
David Arnold
David Batchelor
Sir David Chipperfield
David Heyman
David Joseph
David Jubb
David Lan
David Morrissey
David Oyelowo
David Puttnam
David Sproxton
David Yates
Deborah Bull
Deborah Dawton
Sir Derek Jacobi
Dominic Cooke
Dominic West
Douglas Gordon
Dr Sandie Shaw
Ed Simons
Eddie Izzard
Edie Campbell
Edward Hall
Elizabeth Karlsen
Elizabeth Price
Emily Eavis
Eric Fellner
Professor Eyal Weizman
Fabrizio Zappaterra
Felix Barrett
Fergus Linehan
Gail Rebuck
Gary Hume
Gavin Turk
Geoff Dyer
Geoff Travis
George Longly
George Want
Glenn Brown
Greg Hilty
Hannah Pescod
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Dame Harriet Walter
Heidi Thomas
Helena Bonham Carter
Heydon Prowse
Dame Hilary Mantel
Howard Davies
Hussein Chalayan
Iain Archer
Ian Livingstone
Ian McEwan
Ilan Eshkeri
Ilse Crawford
Imran Amed
Jack Thorne
James Capper
James Daunt
James Lingwood
Jamie Bell
Jamie Byng
Jamie Lloyd
Jamie MacColl
Jarvis Cocker
Jason Watkins
Jatinder Verma
Jay Jopling
Jeff McMillan
Jefferson Hack
Jenny Agutter
Jeremy Deller
Jess Search
Jessie Ware
Jo Brand
Joanna Hogg
Joe Murphy
Joe Robertson
Joe Wright
Sir John Hurt
John Kampfner
John le Carré
John Madden
John Pawson
Sir John Sorrell
Jolyon Rubinstein
Jonathan Reekie
Professor Jonathan Shalit
Joseph Mount
Joseph Richardson
Josh Berger
Jude Kelly
Jude Law
Juliet Stevenson
June Sarpong
Kanya King
Kate Mosse
Kate Unsworth
Katharine Hamnett
Kathy Lette
Katie Mitchell
Katie Moore
Keira Knightley
Keith Milow
Kelly Hoppen
Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp
Kerry Hudson
Kevin Macdonald
Kevin O’Hare
Kit Neale
Koo Jeong A
Dame Kristin Scott Thomas
Laura Bailey
Laura Wade
Laura Wright
Lee Hall
Léonie Higgins
Lisa-Marie Hoctor
Louisa Hutton
Lowri Evans
Marcus Davey
Dame Marina Warner
Martha Freud
Martin Parr
Mary Swan
Mat Whitecross
Matthew Baker
Sir Matthew Bourne
Matthew Hale
Matthew Herbert
Meike Ziervogel
Merce Ribot
Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Frayn
Michael Mack
Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morris
Michael Winterbottom
Mike Leigh
Natalia Kaliada
Nicholas Hytner
Nick Dear
Nick McCarthy
Nicolai Khalezin
Nicolai Schumann
Nicolas Brown
Nicolas Kent
Nicole Farhi
Nigel Carrington
Nik Powell
Nina Gold
Nitin Sawhney
Noel Clarke
Noel Qualter
Ol Parker
Orlando von Einsiedel
Paloma Faith
Patricia Rodriguez
Patrick Grant
Sir Patrick Stewart
Paul Hosking
Paul Roseby
Paul Thomson
Pawel Pawlikowski
Pete Czernin
Peter Florence
Peter Morgan
Peter Rice
Peter Strickland
Philip Pullman
Piers Aggett
Dame Pippa Harris
Polly Stenham
Rhodri Meilir
Richard Curtis
Richard Gregory
Richard Rogers
Richard Wentworth
Robert Montgomery
Ron Arad
Russ Shaw
Sabrina Guinness
Sally Wainwright
Sam Taylor-Johnson
Sam Thorne
Samuel Hodges
Samuel West
Sandi Toksvig
Sara Cocker
Sarah Solemani
Saul Dibb
Shaun McDowell
Shirazeh Houshiary
Simon Patterson
Simon Stephens
Sonia Friedman
Sophie Fiennes
Sophie Okonedo
Stephen Daldry
Stephen Frears
Stephen Woolley
Steve Coogan
Steve McQueen
Susannah Tresilian
Tacita Dean
Tara Robinson
Thandie Newton
Thea Sharrock
Thomas Heatherwick
Tim Bevan
Tim Pigott-Smith
Tom Geens
Tom Harper
Tom Hooper
Professor Tom Inns
Tom Smith
Sir Tom Stoppard
Tommy Franzén
Tony Bevan
Tracey Emin
Tracey Seaward
Vicky Featherstone
Vicky Ireland
Dame Vivienne Westwood
Wayne McGregor
WIlliam Nicholson
Wolfgang Tillmans
Yana Peel
SIR – Tony Benn used to remind us that we should constantly ask those who govern us: Where do you get your power from? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you?
The Eurogroup, that informal and unelected body of eurozone finance ministers from which all important EU economic decisions stem, has caused policies to be implemented that continue to condemn several EU countries to penury. Yet it is a body that does not even exist in European law, that has no minutes of its proceedings, and that keeps its deliberations confidential and not to be shared with Europe’s citizenry.
This body neither obtains its power from us, nor is it accountable to us, and we have no democratic means to rid ourselves of it.
Irrespective of economic arguments (which in any case appear finely balanced, as the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England cannot agree whether interest rates will rise or fall in the event of Brexit), if we value our democracy, want to continue to hold politicians to account and be able to remove them should we wish, then the only way to be free from undemocratic EU interference is to ask ourselves those questions of Tony Benn’s, and then vote to leave.
Charles Law
Hay on Wye, Herefordshire
SIR – Lord Darling, the former Chancellor (Business, May 19), says that if Britain left the EU then youth unemployment “would soar”. On the same page a report says that 252,000 more EU workers came here last year, mostly from Spain, Italy and Greece.
If employment prospects in the EU are so rosy, why are young European workers flooding into Britain?
Myra Spalton
Macclesfield, Cheshire
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Photo: Thanks to the EU: Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley at the London premiere of 'The Imitation Game' CREDIT: LEON NEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES