Village Halls too I see - "village halls, parish or community halls or other similar buildings."

But I also note they aren't free from the requirement to be licensed, just that the licence will be free. They'll still be subject to inspections and requirements for public safety and so forth.

In principle that's fair enough - though it could be tricky with some old churches if the inspectors go in with too insensitive demands for alterations.

"Where a premises licence authorises the sale of alcohol in premises of this nature, however, the normal licence fee will be payable."

So apparently Holy Communion won't count, since there's no charge. They'd better be careful writing this bit or they could be stirring up trouble. None of this stuff about "money not changing hands", what with church collections...

(But it puts the kybosh on suggestions that we coudl get round the law by saying a prayer or singing a hymn at the start of a session, in a pub anyway.)

One good thing with this is it gets the issues back in the papers, and that should mean a chance for more letters to the press and the MPs about the other changes that are needed in the Bill as it stands. Get ready to write them now, I suggest.