Saw the culture show on BBC2 tonight. Not very cheering.

Did not feature any folk sessions, or anything outside London - Naturally!

However they did feature a pub that had Jazz sessions on the two in a bar rule that was going to stop because of the Health & Safety restrictions his local council wanted to impose as a condition of his licence.

Most of the feature was on outdoor entertainment and the problems licencing imposed - having to apply for a licence every time and the costs and time involved.

The government was quoted as saying that they wished to encourage live entertainment - yet their actions seem designed to have the opposite effect.