I'm afraid Shambles that you are very wrong about the UK being worse than other places for busking , in many places you would not have that'freedom'.

Buskers can get along in the UK, so it is perhaps no worse a place to busk. Elsewhere in the world it is seen as a legitimate way to show and be rewarded for one's musical talents. If by freedom you mean that buskers in the UK generally barely tolerated, moved on and it is thought acceptable to refer to them as beggars. As you said because that is what busking is no matter what title you put on it., it is a strange sort of freedom.

Why would you think you are not also begging when you collect with your Morris side? Under our new Licensing Act, Morris and its music are to be exempt from the licensing requirement that even one musician, even one playing exactly the same tunes, are liable to. It is indeed a strange and judgemental sort of freedom that we have.