Yes, clansfolk, I made up A licence to sing walking up from the campsite at Fylde last year, and I sang it at The Mount when I got there. The tune and words have changed a bit since then, as songs do.

Maybe Don Thompson is right about the tax-collecting aspect, but I suspect that's only a minor element. I imagine there are people around who instinctively would try to make any new bit of legislation a tax-raiser, but with the amounts involved here I can't see a high-powered high-level conspiracy. I suspect that if we can only work "up a bit of noticeable opposition we could get what we want.

But that is a big if - even among folk people there's a real reluctance to engage with this one. I think NELLIE is right about the fear people have that if they raise their heads they'll get them chopped off, so it's better to keep them down, and go on ignoring the law.

This is part of an English cultural tradition I think - if you don't like the law, you don't protest, you just quietly ignore it. The way the most law-abiding people instinctively jay-walk, or walk through the "no exit" and "no entrance" signs, or the hallowed tradition of the pub lock-in after legal drinking time is over.

Generally speaking there's a lot to be said for it - but it can let you down. With PELs the problem is that it isn't us breaking the law, it's the proprietor of the pub or coffee house or whatever other public place might be involved.

Maybe a musical lobby of parliament would be an idea. It would have the advantage that the proprietors of Parliament would be at risk of a £20,000 fine for allowing the lobby queue to sing or make music or dance, since no PEL would be in existence. And since Parliament is in the Palace of Westminster, I imagine the proprietor technically would be the Queen.

Talking of which the Jubilee should give opportunities for lots of musical activities that won't be covered by PELs. (Including Not-The-Jubilee events. Same difference - I expect I'll be involved in both sorts.)

I remember when Thatcher tried to close down May Day (or rather the Early May Bank Holiday on the nearest Monday to May Day), as an act of peculiarly daft class warfare, the press gave a fair amount of attention to the Morris Dancers in the lobby. And the idea was laughed out of existence. (Mind, I'm not sure that the Morris Dancers were the crucial element - the tourist industry was probably a bit more significant. But then that should be on our side this time too, by rights and commonsense.)