Labour agrees to CIU’s call for club closure crisis talks

Published Tuesday 12 August 2008 at 14:50 by Mark Ritchie

Labour has agreed to convene crisis talks with the UK’s club sector in a bid to address problems which are causing venues across the country to cut back on live entertainment or even close.

Recently introduced government legislation - such as the smoking ban and new licensing laws - are causing severe financial problems for working men’s and social clubs - one of Britain’s leading light entertainment employers.

Responding to a question raised by the joint chairman of the all-party parliamentary clubs group, David Clelland MP, Leader of the House of Commons Harriet Harman has agreed that talks between the government and the sector need to be arranged to address the difficulties facing clubland.

She said: “I will agree to convene a meeting such as my right honourable friend proposes. I agree that clubs are often at the very heart of our communities and we want to do all we can to support them. In fact I will ask my right honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [Hazel Blears] to take that meeting forward”.

The move follows an open letter sent to MPs of all parties by Club and Institute Union general secretary Kevin Smyth appealing to them to examine the reasons behind the escalating number of club closures in the UK, a trend which is leading to huge loss of work for variety entertainers.

Earlier this year, clubland - a traditional supporter of Labour - publicly turned on the government for the first time, accusing it of “crushing the lifeblood” out of the sector.

In a damning open letter written by Barry Slasberg - a leading club official and a high-profile member of the CIU’s ruling National Executive Committee - licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe was singled out for criticism.

In the letter, Slasberg accused Sutcliffe, who has held the licensing portfolio since June 2007, of publicly lamenting the legislative decisions that have gone against clubland, but doing little to help the struggling industry.