And will he be able, in a year or two, to undo the damage done to live music in particular.

As a folk club organiser, I have been promoting live music for 45 years, but if I'm driven out by this disastrous hotch potch of mistake and mismanagement, I will be very unlikely to want to start all over again in say 2008.

It is already very difficult for musicians to get bookings, as there are too few venues now. How does our idiot government come to the conclusion that killing off potential venues by over regulation will improve matters?

Don T.