Friends in the USA can be of great help to us here in the UK and there will not be a better time. Can you please try and ensure that your media are alerted to our plight.

This from Hamish Birchall.

I have sent a letter for publication to the New York times re the above. Their foreign newsdesk e-mail address is: foreign@nytimes.com

If you wish to do the same I think you will need to put a full name and address at the end to stand any chance of publication. This is a copy of the text of my letter:

* * *

Dear Sir/Madam

Dr Kim Howells, Junior Minister for Tourism and Licensing at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the UK, just made landfall in New York. His presence is part of the UK Government's £40 million bid to entice American visitors back to Britain.

Dr Howell's credentials as an ambassador for traditional culture and its potential attraction to overseas visitors were called into question on 3 December last year, however, when he said in the House of Commons that listening to Somerset folk singers was his idea of 'hell'. The remark was prominently reported in The Times (5 December 2001, p5) and on BBC television and radio.

The bad joke, unbecoming of any MP, let alone a Minister for Culture, attracted opprobrium from leading lights of the UK folk world and beyond. As The Times reported: 'Martin Carthy, the guitarist and singer regarded as one of the most influential figures of English folk music, whose admirers are said to include Bob Dylan, said "Musicians have a tough enough time without a prat like that."'

In the same breath, however, Howells had referred to the 'silly rules' which prevent live music from thriving in the UK. Folk music in Ireland and Scotland is very much a part of their attraction for tourists. But last week an Appeal Court ruling tightened the restrictive live music rules in England and Wales still further. The court's draconian decision is front page news today in The Stage, Britain's premier entertainment industry paper, and is the subject of its editorial.

Right across England and Wales it is now a criminal offence for licensees in 95% of pubs and bars if one singer replaces another in a duo. Unlike other silly laws, this one is vigorously enforced by local authorities. Law breakers face heavy fines and a jail sentence if they risk an acoustic trio in their premises - without first buying an expensive licence. Curiously enough very similar laws operated in New York City until 1988 when jazz musicians had them struck down with a 1st Amendment law suit.

News of heavy-handed enforcement against UK folk musicians spread to the USA last autumn. Many wrote directly to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council expressing disgust at that council's heavy-handed enforcement against an informal folk session in a local pub, The Cove House Inn, Portland. The letters were published in the Dorset Echo (01305 830930) and the story was covered by local television.

Last night in the Houses of Parliament this was raised during a Commons debate led by David Heath, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Somerton and Frome. He made an impassioned speech setting out these laws in all their absurd glory, and called for Government action. You may read the Hansard transcript from this link (go to end of page, then 'Page Up' a couple of times): http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/cm020227/debindx/20227-x.htm

But Culture Minister Richard Caborn made no firm commitment to a timetable for reform, and had nothing in the way of practical help to offer.

Musicians in Britain would love to see American tourists return in numbers. Many of us have lost work in hotels because of the decline in American visitors. I certainly hope Dr Howells' mission is a great success. But if any of you value live music, perhaps you could send a message to Dr Howells to do a little more on his home patch when he returns: kim.howells@culture.gsi.gov.uk