Bit of a sweeping generalisation I'd say. In fact there have been hundreds probably thousands of sessions which have been ignored by licensing authorities over the years (accepting the legality of the two-in-a-bar rule)that have been illegal.

I am sure the officers employed by the LAs concerned would not welcome the publicity you are giving them that they have been acting illegally over the years and failing in their statutory duty to protect the public.

And many folk may consider that an LA insisting that a participatory singing event could go ahead but on the imposed condition that there could not be any advertising - IS an obstuction.

It is perhaps also a sweeping generalisation to state that these sessions have in fact been illegal and such a statement is most probably not true.

For it remains a fact that the only case-law specifically on this issue does not support this opinion. It is one where a licensee was aquitted on appeal because the court judged that the customers were providing their own music.

This has not prevented the legal officers of my LA advising the elected members that the courts had decided that a licence was required even when customers provided their own music. The officer concerned later admitting that they had been unaware of this case-law when initially providing this advice in writing to my councillor. However, they were in posession of it when they they later ignored it and repeated this advice to a committee meeting.