John king comments:
The coalition responds to the Form 696 petition. The Lib Dems are reneging on a pre-election promise to ban Form 696 which Don Foster described as 'racist'.

So much for the 'bonfire of bureaucracy' and 'cutting red-tape' for live music events.

That the Lib Dems are renaging once again is not really surprising but it is deeply depressing, especially to those who were misguided enough to vote for them. It was a deal the Lib Dem peers did with the last Labour Govt which gave us the Licensing Act 2003 and now a deal the Lib Dems have done with the Conservatives looks set to leave us with Form 696.