The following must have been in a later edition of The Times.

The Times 05 December 200.
By Dalya Alberge. Arts Correspondent and Helen Studd.

A minister whose job is to promote culture and the arts is facing the music today after insulting the county most associated with England's centuries old folk tradition..

Kim Howells, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the idea of listening to Somerset folk singers was his idea of hell. His remark followed a question about restrictions on the number of musicians permitted to play together on licensed premises.

Somerset played a leading part in English folk music throughout the last century, beginning with the work of Cecil Sharp, founder of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Later the tradition continued with bands such as the Wurzels, the Western Country Dance Band and the Yetties.

Sharp spent most of his career in Somerset researching the origins of its folk music. he rediscovered much of the area's traditional music that was played in the 17th and 18th centuries, which was already on the verge of being lost and forgotten in the early 1900s.

He first watched Morris men perform in the county in 1895 and shortly afterwards began his life's work, collecting and documenting the dances. Bands such as Roots Quartet continue to play Sharp's songs to audiences across the county and have recently produced a CD of the music collected.

Wally Dent agent for the Wurzels said: "It's disgusting that someone in such a role as Dr Howells should make such inappropriate and ill-informed remarks. I suggest he spends a little more time around the area and learns about its musical traditions"

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Martin Carthy, the guitarist and singer regarded as one of the most influential figures in English folk music, whose admirers are said to include bob Dylan said. "Musicians have a tough enough time without a prat like that". Hamish Birchall, a folk drummer said. "If that's a joke, it's a very bad joke, particularly coming from a culture minister".

Somerset is also the home of music festivals such as Glastonbury, while PJ Harvey, who was last week Voted the greatest female rock and pop artist all time, is the daughter of a Dorset farmer.

Ian Smith, organiser of the Musician's Union's folk section, said "It shows how crassly ignorant someone of that level is. It's an insult. The folk and acoustic world has never been bigger".

In the commons exchange David Heath, Liberal Democrat MP for Somerton and Frome said. "Is it not ridiculous that, in the unlikely event of Michael Jackson and Maddona teaming up to do a gig down the local pub, they could do so, yet three people singing Somerset folk songs would not be able to do so?"

It is a criminal offence for more than two to play together in pubs and restaurants, which means that a quiet jazz piano trio or a string quartet are barred while karaoke or discos are permitted.

Dr Howells was quick to respond to Mr Heath. "For a simple urban boy such as me, the idea of listening to three Somerset folk singers sounds like hell" he said.