Important to remember also that our MPs will first have to pass this guidance.

Is that actually the case? Not that it makes much difference - they'll pass anything they are told to pass. However surely the relevant minister has the delegated authority to approve the guidance without bringing it back to Parliament?

And once again, the assumption keeps on being raised that every kind of "premises" already has to have a licence, and therefore it's just a question of adjusting that as appropriate. Remember, the definition of "premises" in the Act is "any place" - and even in the 21st century there are still quite a lot of places which have never needed to have any kind of licence.

The underlying philosophy of the Act and the Guidance is, at bottom, that we are only entitled to do what we are allowed to do by the authorities, and that we have no prior rights which need to be respected. Even when the authorities see it as appropriate to be relaxed in what they allow us to do, this is not an acceptable basis for a free society.