The Stage - front page headline for 30 January 2003

NCA CONFRONTS LICENSING CRITICS
By Sally Bramley

National Campaign for the Arts director Victoria Todd has attacked the "unhelpful misinformation and hysteria" which she alleges is being whipped up by some critics of the new entertainment licensing bill. Todd, who has been involved in drafting amendments to the legislation currently going through the Lords, said exaggeration the problems would lead ministers to "close their ears" to legitimate criticism of the reforms.

She said: "it is not helpful when people come up with apocryphal stories. We've got to make sure our facts ate accurate. If not, the government can turn round and say that it is a load of rubbish. "There is no point in taking it to an exaggerated conclusion. It will get you press coverage but it is absolute drivel. You have to study the bill and go through it."

Todd did not refer to any particular critic of the bill in her comments. By contrast, the government has been particularly scathing about the involvement of the Musician's Union in particular. The MU has played a leading role in opposition to the planned legislation. Last week Kim Howells, the minister responsible for overseeing the bill, delivered a vociferous defence of the reforms in a feature in The Stage. He has also gone on record to accuse the MU of running a "pernicious and lying campaign".

Howells added: 2Claims that activities like rehearsing in a rehearsal studio, carol singing on someone's door step or trying out a guitar in a music shop will be licensable are pure fantasy. "I hope the Musicians Union will acknowledge this and that we can work together from here to address any genuine concerns they have about the content of the bill that are based on fact not fiction."

But this week a furious John Smith, general secretary of the MU, hit back, challenging the minister to prove the union wrong: "We have had a good relationship with the culture minister but this marks a low point. I find his comments extremely insulting. "if we are wrong we will be glad to climb down, These are issues of great concern to our members. We hope it won't as we suspect, kill some aspects of live music."

In a letter to The Stage this week, the MU leader repeated claims that the bill was imprecisely worded and would unfairly affect thousands of unintended victims insisting that "what the minister says and what the bill means are two different things".

A spokesman from Equity appeared to echo Todd's criticism, saying it had been working with closely with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to discuss the proposed legislation. But he added: "We have not been helped by some of the claims which we believe are not acurate".