LiveNation explains that Springsteen axe was for public safety

LiveNation has offered an explanation for why the Springsteen gig was cut short:

"It was unfortunate that the three hour plus performance by Bruce Springsteen was stopped right at the very end but the curfew is laid down by the authorities in the interest of the public's health and safety. Road closures around Hyde Park are put in place at specific times to make sure everyone can exit the area in safety."

You've got to love the "three hour plus" bit there - you can almost hear the sighing of "how much more did you want?" - but the suggestion that letting them get to the end of Twist And Shout would have meant the road safety measures would have been torn down seems a little unlikely.

Presumably the real reason would have been fines from Westminster City Council?

Gordon in the morning: Pursuing the bosses' feud

James Murdoch is in the Commons today, hoping his "I was too busy counting my money to notice" line of defence doesn't crumble like a knackered empire.

Never mind, James: Gordon's got your back, desperately trying to tarnish the reputation of Hugh Grant. Although the world has gone 'oh, he's become a daddy and is doing his bit? That's nice', Smart ploughs on trying to spark up some sort of scandal:

HUGH Grant faces a fine after failing to register the birth of his daughter.

A fine, eh? So are local council Westminster threatening to drag Grant to court?

The floppy-haired actor, famed for playing upper-class bumblers, has already gone three days over the 42-day deadline.
[...]
But a member of staff there said: "Sometimes we wait up to three months.

"It's not like we are going to turn up on his doorstep with the police and chase them up."

So, Westminster seemingly quite relaxed about things.

What makes Smart's story even more pathetic is that, erm, Grant isn't actually legally responsible for registering the birth. Perhaps someone at The Sun should have looked at Westminster's website:

However, if the parents are not married to each other the father cannot register the birth unless the mother attends the office with him and they both sign the register or she makes a legal declaration naming him as the father.

The mother can register the birth on her own but the father's details will not be recorded in the register.

Still, why let the facts get in the way of a tiresome attempt to fling dirt at your current bosses' nemesis, eh?

Rowntree pasted

That Dave Rowntree was unable to persuade Marylebone High Street voters to chuck out the Tories in last night's by-election for Westminster City Council was unsurprising. What is surprising in the result is that he only polled 222 - a drop from Labour's lowest polls in the 2006 election in the ward. The good news for Dave, though, is he increased Labour's share of the vote from 14.6% to 16.5%.

Westminster City Council: Eradicating fun

We've mentioned before how Westminster City Council (official slogan 'Don't make merry rand 'ere, we'll just gerrymander') have embarked on a campaign to push joy as far beyond its boundaries as it can - the objection to the Astoria licence, the policy that attempted to kill off drug users by suggesting that providing water in clubs would be tantamount to approving of drug use.

Now, they've prosecuted pubs because people were swaying rhythmically inside them, and they didn't have a licence for dancing. Seriously. We're not making this up - they've issued written warnings to pubs because people have been seen "swaying" on the premises.

There's always an official explanation:

"Premises providing music and dancing are required as a matter of law to obtain a licence. For this reason our inspectors visit premises. We need to observe whether a premises is encouraging entertainment and encouraging people to dance. The two premises of Pitcher and Piano were advised that they were encouraging music and dancing and that they should apply for a licence, they did not."

You'll notice that there wasn't actually any threat to public safety or civil order - there was no fear that at any moment, the gentle hip-wiggling might spill over into a full on West-Side-Story-esque street party with upturned bins, cars set on fire and screeching and rapes and murders. The action was brought because it could be, not because it needed to be. Petty.

Meanwhile, Peter Stringfellow is to be prosecuted by - yes, Westminster again - because the girls in his strip club touch people and are a bit lewd. The council sent in undercover officers, who allowed themselves to be pawed (that job really must suck, musn't it) - or rather, had buttocks rubbed on their thighs.

Sweetgwen, is this really what councils should be doing with their time? Spending cash sending people off for lapdances, and then squealing because there's a bit of gentle contact? Again, the question has to be: what is the exact point of this prosecution? I mean, we think Stringfellow is a creepy, scary man, but even so - who is going to be outraged by going into a lap dance club and getting a bit more than they pay for?