The campaign to reverse the disproportionate and unnecessary powers which the 2003 Licensing Act gave to Local Authorities has really come in from the wilderness.In the House of Lords yesterday the Live Music Bill was given a second reading. The government announced its support for the Bill (the devil will be in the detail..), which received support on the floor of the house of Lords from:
Tim Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat- he's the sponsor of the Live Music Bill)
Michael Grade (Conservative, maiden speech)
Jenny Randerson (Liberal Democrat - maiden speech)
Robin Teverson (Liberal Democrat)
Anthony Colwyn (Conservative)
Joan Bakewell (Labour- who read out Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode),
Floella Benjamin (Liberal Democrat)
Rupert Redesdale (Liberal Democrat)
Merlin Hay (Earl of Erroll, Cross-bencher)
Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Labour - he admitted that his government had 'got it wrong'- YAY!). A transcript of the debate is here.
Tireless campaigner on his issue Hamish Birchall writes: "The bill now moves to Committee stage in the Lords, probably within a month. There its provisions will be put under detailed scrutiny, and the government is likely to table its own amendments."
And here's a surprise: something positive for musicians has come out of Sound Art. Lord Clement-Jones was able to cite the absurd tangle which Westminster Council and the Tate Gallery got themselves into about the Tate's Turner Prize-winning sound installation last month.
Don't mention the war ...etc... but it's very noticeable that it's the Incorporated Society of Musicians rather than the Musicians Union which appears to be making the running on this one.
