The more we write and pester our MPs, the less likely it will be that this Govt will continue to be able just waffle.....

When they are actually making things worse, they should certainly not be able to continue with waffle like this, from the Pubs minister - until they actually make a firm proposal as to what they intend to do, to make it easier to enable live music in our pubs (and elsewhere).

Licensing rules will be reformed to make it easier to play live music in local pubs, and the Government have already scrapped the planned 10% rise in cider duties (the so-called cider tax).

As there remains only one licence - what has actually been proposed by the Home Office is to increase the red tape involved in making live music in pubs and elswhere. For until the provision live music is removed from the requirement for a Premises Licence - any measure to deal with alcohol concerns - can currently only also apply to all live music (whether alcohol is being served or not).

We have the previous Govt to thank for linking together in a Premises Licence, the known benefits of live music forever with the known problems of alcohol. We have our local authorities to thank for seeing their role to prevent or limit one form of licensing activity (live music) to enable another (alcohol).

But we have the present Govt to thank for saying all the right things but not actually doing anything but to continue to watch as council employed vandals are allowed to strangle live music - often for no other reason than they have been given the power to do this and do not seem to be accountable to anyone for the resulting mess.

In practice, this is a seemingly unaccountable power that urgently needs to be taken away from those who have demonstrated time and again that this in an area that they do not understand, are not equipped to deal with and which they can only be trusted to treat as if live music had no benefits to society.

Any problems associated with live music are already dealt with by other existing legislation. When there was not other legislation - there may have be a case for additional entertainment licensing. Like the stabilising wheels on a child's bicycle, there comes a time when such measures have outlived their useful function and can only hamper forward progress.

The LGA Group lobby have discredited themselves in maintaining that this expensive duplication of existing legislation is the only way the public can be protected. The current Govt are further discredited if they continue to treat the claims of LGA Group lobby as if these were really based on a concern for the public and were something more than a powerful lobby just trying to look after their own vested interests.   

Make all premises safe for the public by all means - but please do not continue the pretence that the mere provision of any form of live music requires any more to protect the public's interests, than what has already been provided in Planning, Health and Safety, Environmental and other existing legislation.

This other legislation must be thought able to deal with any problems which may arise from the live music that is already exempted so it is not credible to claim (as the LGA Group lobby do) that any future exemption cannot also be dealt with in the same way.