The UK has a truly absurd system for licensing 'entertainment' - under which any pub wanting to host a single guitar player, or poetry reader, or choir, or just about any other form of performance needs to get a council licence, which comes with high costs and piles of forms.
The coalition government has made very encouraging promises that it would cut this red tape, and indeed has been feeding suggestions to the press that it would abolish music licensing altogether.
Now the Live Music Forum - the campaign group that has been leading the rebellion against these ridiculous laws - reveals that, in fact, the new plans would increase the red tape on live performance. Read their detailed analysis here.