Ed Sheeran has urged Keir Starmer to fund 1,000 more music teachers and invest £250 million in music education in state schools “to repair decades of dismantling”.

The singer-songwriter has written to the prime minister to say that learning to play an instrument is “now a luxury not every child can afford”.

The letter, also signed by fellow musicians including Annie Lennox, Coldplay, Harry Styles, Elton John and Stormzy, called for the government to stop the closure of university music departments. It cited Cardiff University’s recent proposal to close its renowned school of music blaming increasing cost pressures.

Sheeran wrote: “As an industry, we bring £7.6 billion into the UK economy, yet the next generation is not there to take the reins. Last year was