Juncker urged to intervene in culture row

Jean-claude Juncker has been urged to intervene to allow a British city to be named the European Capital of Culture despite Brexit.

British entrants for the 2023 honour have been deemed ineligible because the UK will not be part of the European Union or European Economic Area by then.

Butinalettertoeuropean Commission president Mr Juncker, MPS representing the five areas which have submitted bids for culture capital status urged him to allow the process to continue.

They told him: “We find it inexplicable that the European Union waited until after the bids from the United Kingdom had been submitted before ruling them all ineligible, when it has been aware of the United Kingdom’s decision since June 2016.

“Politics should not interfere with what is in many ways an event intended to bridge cultural and political divides.”

Five different UK bids were competing to host the 2023 European Capital of Culture, spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on their entries.

Nottingham, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Dundee and a joint Belfast-londonderrystrabane bid were all in the running for the accolade.