And from the same edition

Wurzelgate

CULTURE Minister Kim Howells was last night facing a rural backlash after tangling with West music legends the Wurzels.

The minister provoked a furious response when he told MPs that listening to Somerset folk singers "sounds like hell".

Wurzels star Tommy Banner hit back, accusing him of "talking a lot of dung", and the Musicians' Union waded in and told him to apologise.

Outraged readers rang the Western Daily Press to voice their anger.

The row – dubbed "Wurzelgate" at Westminster – began in a Commons debate on tough licensing laws which restrict the number of live musicians who can play in pubs.

Liberal Democrat Somerton and Frome MP David Heath said: "Is it not ridiculous that in the unlikely event of Michael Jackson and Madonna 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?"

Mr Howells responded: "For a simple urban boy such as me, the idea of listening to three Somerset folk singers sounds like hell."

Tommy Banner, from Taun-ton, said: "This guy should get out and about more often. He describes himself as a simple urban boy from Pontypridd – perhaps he should become a more learned rural one."

Ian Smith, organiser of the Musicians' Union's new folk, roots and traditional music section described Mr Howells' remarks as a "bad joke" and called for him to apologise immediately.

"For the minister responsible for culture to make an off the cuff statement like that shows that he does not have the first idea of the wide variety of music we have in the UK," he said.

"This kind of remark makes me very angry and it deserves the kind of reaction it will get."

Mr Smith said Somerset folk music had a long and distinguished history stretching back to the beginning of the last century, and was not just about "men in jumpers in the local pub".

Folk music is one of the fastest growing sectors of the British music industry, with bands such as the Wurzels playing to audiences of tens of thousands at folk festivals across the country.

And Tim Walker, chief executive of the English Folk, Dance and Song Society, said Mr Howells' remarks were "totally outrageous".

"He is talking about the roots of English music. The least we would expect is a formal apology," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport refused to say whether Kim Howells would be apologising, but insisted his comments were "throwaway remarks".