I think the simplest thing to ask for would be some kind of provision that acoustic sessions on licensed premises or in similar settings, where no admission charge was made, held with the agreement of the proprietor, would not require any kind of entertainment licence - with the proviso that if there was a proven public nuisance or risk to public safety that would be a valid reason for proprietors stopping a session, and it would be their duty to do so..

A petition along these lines would be a good idea - and I would imagine that it would not be hard to get an lot of people signing it at this year's festivals.

Alongside that, letters to the press, articles in the folk press, and letters to MPs would all help stir it up. And MEPs too, who must be bored out of their crust, and to whom it might offer a chance of getting into the press.(And, as I said earlier, communications from abroad, maybe addressed to the relevant tourist board.)

Oh yes, and there is Liberty (which used to be called The National Council for Civil Liberties) And I think the best way to approach them would be in connection with a real case where the law has deprived people of freedoms they had enjoyed - and Shambles has just such a case. (They should be in a good position to find out how the law here compares with that in other countries and so forth.)