Clubland turns on Labour
Clubland turns on Labour
by Mark Ritchie
The government has been accused of “crushing the lifeblood” out of clubland through a string of new laws which are closing light entertainment venues across the UK.
In a damning open letter written by Barry Slasberg - a leading club official and a high-profile member of the Club and Institute Union’s ruling National Executive Committee - minister Gerry Sutcliffe is singled out for criticism.
Sutcliffe, who has held the licensing portfolio since June 2007, is accused of publicly lamenting the legislative decisions that have gone against clubland, but doing little to help the struggling industry.
Since the introduction of the smoking ban, falling attendances at clubs have caused many to close, while other legislative changes, for example the introduction of a new club registration system, are also causing venue administration costs to increase.
“Mr Sutcliffe is the latest in a long line of prominent politicians who have given the highest praise to our movement,” Slasberg writes in his letter to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Non-Profit Making Members’ Clubs.
“He lamented the decisions that have gone against us of late - as indeed all politicians do. They do not seem to understand the devastating cumulative effect of their actions.
“If all individual politicians are telling the truth when they speak to their electorate about the proven facts of the great worth of our clubs, then why is this support not reflected in the decisions they make collectively?”
He warned that clubland - one of the leading employers of light entertainers in the UK - was in “great peril”, before finishing the letter by claiming he had decided to go public “in order to reverse the unendurable and perpetual legislative tirade against us”.
“It is appreciated there are problems outside the domain of the law, but those brought about through legislation are certainly crushing the lifeblood from us,” he added.
Slasberg’s complaints include increasing costs of club registration from £2 annually to “hundreds of pounds a year” and a similar rise in the cost of administration fees. He also accuses the Labour government of going back on a manifesto pledge to exclude private members’ clubs from the smoking ban.
CIU general secretary Kevin Smyth has previously warned that rising beer prices, in part due to government duty increases, are hitting clubland hard. According to Smyth, a combination of this and the smoking ban has made the last year the hardest in his 30-year involvement with the CIU. These problems have had a worrying knock-on effect for performers.
Variety artists speaking at last month’s Equity Annual Representative Conference claimed that work opportunities in pubs and clubs have fallen by as much as 50%.
• Meanwhile, Gorse Hill Working Men’s Club in Swindon has become one of the latest venues offering live entertainment to close. The club, which boasted a fully sprung dance floor, has been forced to shut its doors after going into administration.
http://www.thestage.co.uk
by Mark Ritchie
The government has been accused of “crushing the lifeblood” out of clubland through a string of new laws which are closing light entertainment venues across the UK.
In a damning open letter written by Barry Slasberg - a leading club official and a high-profile member of the Club and Institute Union’s ruling National Executive Committee - minister Gerry Sutcliffe is singled out for criticism.
Sutcliffe, who has held the licensing portfolio since June 2007, is accused of publicly lamenting the legislative decisions that have gone against clubland, but doing little to help the struggling industry.
Since the introduction of the smoking ban, falling attendances at clubs have caused many to close, while other legislative changes, for example the introduction of a new club registration system, are also causing venue administration costs to increase.
“Mr Sutcliffe is the latest in a long line of prominent politicians who have given the highest praise to our movement,” Slasberg writes in his letter to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Non-Profit Making Members’ Clubs.
“He lamented the decisions that have gone against us of late - as indeed all politicians do. They do not seem to understand the devastating cumulative effect of their actions.
“If all individual politicians are telling the truth when they speak to their electorate about the proven facts of the great worth of our clubs, then why is this support not reflected in the decisions they make collectively?”
He warned that clubland - one of the leading employers of light entertainers in the UK - was in “great peril”, before finishing the letter by claiming he had decided to go public “in order to reverse the unendurable and perpetual legislative tirade against us”.
“It is appreciated there are problems outside the domain of the law, but those brought about through legislation are certainly crushing the lifeblood from us,” he added.
Slasberg’s complaints include increasing costs of club registration from £2 annually to “hundreds of pounds a year” and a similar rise in the cost of administration fees. He also accuses the Labour government of going back on a manifesto pledge to exclude private members’ clubs from the smoking ban.
CIU general secretary Kevin Smyth has previously warned that rising beer prices, in part due to government duty increases, are hitting clubland hard. According to Smyth, a combination of this and the smoking ban has made the last year the hardest in his 30-year involvement with the CIU. These problems have had a worrying knock-on effect for performers.
Variety artists speaking at last month’s Equity Annual Representative Conference claimed that work opportunities in pubs and clubs have fallen by as much as 50%.
• Meanwhile, Gorse Hill Working Men’s Club in Swindon has become one of the latest venues offering live entertainment to close. The club, which boasted a fully sprung dance floor, has been forced to shut its doors after going into administration.
http://www.thestage.co.uk
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