Lap Dancing Association blasts 'cowardly' Government

The Lap Dancing Association (LDA) has blasted the Government's announcement that it will re-classify lap dancing clubs as Sex Encounter Establishments (SEE) as part of a new Policing and Crime Bill.

In the Queen's speech, the Government said it planned to introduce new measures to "tighten control" of lap dancing clubs.

"The Government approach is both completely unnecessary and inappropriate," said LDA secretary Kate Nicholls.

"It is the worst example of knee-jerk policy making. The Government has simply reacted to a particularly vociferous campaign by special interest groups who morally object to our industry.

"This is not a case of communities being given a greater say in the way they are run — it is a case of Whitehall passing a moral judgement on our industry."

She added: "A Sex Encounter Establishment regime will do nothing more than placing a huge regulatory burden on our industry and stigmatise all those who work in it. You would hope that in the current economic climate the Government would be trying to help businesses, not introducing pointless measures which could put people out of work.

"We have made it clear time and time again that sex is not for sale in our establishments. We are not part of the sex industry. We do not want to be and it is not in our interest to be.

"Perhaps worst of all is the cowardly way in which the Government has gone about introducing these changes. There has been no serious consideration of our own proposals to amend the 2003 Act to allay people's concerns about clubs."