"So, what's the story on public places again?" - so far as I understand it everywhere that is open to the public (ie virtually everywhere apart from your living room) is subject to the requirement of having a licence for anything that can be called a performance. (With the sole exception of church services and the two-in-a-bar exemption for pubs, which is to be abolished).

And rehearsals count as performances. Probably. "Probably" is the key word for most things in this area, because the definition of what counts as a performance is all case law. Someone telling a couple of jokes might well count as a performance.

Remember, just because it's daft doesn't mean it's not the law. And just because it's the law doesn't mean it's always enforced - just put "crazy laws" in your search engine and you'll be amazed what comes up. But the PEL crazy laws are enforced in a range of situations, in a purely arbitrary way. Most people would assume that the story about a pub being fined for allowing people to sing Happy Birthday was an urban legend, but it's true; and so is the story about the police stopping a string quarter playing in a bookshop.

But it's much better to ask those kind of questions of the authorities. It's no harder to send a fax asking your MP than it is to post it in a thread, and it's completely free, using Fax Your MP They can then pass it on to somebody who might actually know the answer. It's a good way of telling them there are people who care about these things.