Something which came up on the Frankie Boyle thread (http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/frankie-boyle-has-line-been-crosse...) was the attitude of the parties to the arts.

Two points

1. the Digital Economy bill, which seemed to be hurried into law in about three hours by eight MPs in the chamber. The magazine and this site has taken an interest in this over a long period, but the law has been rushed in on the back of fag packet, so oozes disaster. Has any of the Massive studied what has been passed into law ?

2. the Licensing Act is in place for a while, so that now a show by one man in a pub not licensed for live music will lead to a criminal prosecution while Sky TV showing the football is exempt. In May, it was recommended that small venues with unamplified performance by one or two musicians be exempt, but the government still said no. So, a major football game is deemed less dangerous to public order than a couple of folkies in a pub. Thus far the authorities have not given a toss.

At a time of brutal economic crisis this seems small beer, but it seems to be close this time, so do we have even the slightest bit of leverage this time ?