"the sad thing is that much of the industry that Jim talks about has been [d]ecimated by governments particularly mrs Thatcher,
MUCH INDUSTRY HAS BEEN MOVED TO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES, so it is hardly surprising if there are fewer working class people in folk clubs, because there are fewer people working, fewer people manufacturing, and less money to spend."

Dick - take a look at who closed more pits - Conservative or Labour - Answer: Labour.

Our Steel, Coal, motor industry and shipbuilding went to the wall not because of the will of any government in the the UK, they went to the wall because they could not compete in the world market and in the case of Steel, Coal and Shipbuilding the government subsidies paid were decreed illegal and unfair by the EEC/EU.

Yes heavy labour intensive industries did gravitate to "third world countries" they provided the competition that the UK could not compete with. India's rail, coal, steel and garment manufacturers infrastructure was set up by British investment during the nineteenth century.

The "working class" that those on this forum witter on about have long since departed, according to world statistics the only class across the whole face of the planet that is expanding rapidly is the "middle class". And Dick counter to what you state there is a higher percentage of the population of the UK in work today than at any other time in history of these islands. The reason there are fewer people in folk clubs these days is because fewer people are interested in the output in terms of the standard of material and performance in those clubs.