Sharkey on the attack over government's live music fudge

Feargal Sharkey has hit out at the government for failing to accept MPs' recommendations to relax the licensing laws around live music in pubs.

Sharkey, chief executive of UK Music which represents the interests of the music industry, said he was "extremely disappointed" at the Culture Secretary's response, which ruled out offering a live music licence exemption for pubs with a capacity of 200 or less.

The government also rejected a call for the two-in-a-bar rule to be re-instated, under the Licensing Act, and indicated the Metropolitan Police had "no plans" to drop its controversial Form 696.

"Yet again we are told that there will be another new review process, more meetings and yet another group, this time charged specifically with trying to develop loopholes which exploit a deeply flawed and ill-conceived Licensing Act," Sharkey said.

"At what point does someone within government become brave enough to acknowledge that it is time to raise a hand, time to admit they have got it wrong and time to fix it."

The former Undertones frontman also attacked the government for failing to provide any evidence that showed live music caused problems.

"Once again government has tried to establish links between live music, noise nuisance and disorder yet once again it has failed to provide any evidence to substantiate its own allegations," he said.

Meanwhile, a Live Music Bill put forward by the Liberal Democrats was due to be tabled in the House of Lords, calling for licensing exemptions in pubs, echoing the original recommendations made by the Culture, Media and Sport committee.

Sharkey added: "What is most surprising is that British music must now rely on opposition parties to support the future of our industry."