In a letter to all Lib Dem MPs, Nick Clegg yesterday stressed that no decision had yet been taken but suggested he was likely to break the election pledge. He called it "one of the most difficult political decisions I have ever had to make".
As Mr Clegg is to renage on this pledge - what hope is there of him honouring his pre-election support for the 200 exemption?
We'll also end the bureaucratic nightmares that hold performers back, like Labour's live music licensing system, for example. It has become a complicated, time-consuming regime which has even caught schools, hospitals and colleges in its tentacles, and is stifling the kind of small-scale live music that is so important for the future.
So we'll exempt small venues with capacities of less than 200 and go back to the rule where any venue can put on a performance of un-amplified music by one or two people without a licence. That is how we can foster new talent and new community venues. And Liberal Democrats recognise how extraordinarily competitive careers in performance and the arts can be, and how many of the people working in them are struggling.