The Ballads and Blues Club had no such policy. For example Dorothy & Peter Sensier aka Dorita y Pepe often appeared and sang and played songs from South America obviously they understood the language but did not normally speak it. We also had English guys singing Israeli songs and British girls singing Plaisir D'Amour.As I said above, the Ballads and Blues Club continued with it's broad policy

Certainly the Ballads and Blues had an anything goes as you described and Peggy in her article says it did. She also says it changed. She sang French songs and Ewan sang John Henry.

I was not there at the time. My evidence is Peggy's article in "Living Tradition"; and Jim Carroll who was a member of the Critic's Group for twenty years who confirms Peggy's version in another thread.

It is interesting to note that Lizzie who started this thread offers a quote in support of her original question from Colin Irwin's book when the quote offered does no such thing. The quote although it mis-describes the policy as I understand it, also specifically says it was the policy of the club and not that of Ewan.