Richard Ashcroft quits Tramlines festival owing to its Covid research

Verve frontman was set to headline Sheffield event, but says it was ‘sadly forced to become’ a ‘Government Experiment’

Richard Ashcroft has pulled out of his headline slot at Sheffield’s Tramlines festival later this month, as he opposes the event being used as part of government research into the transmission of Covid-19 at large events.

He wrote on Instagram: