UK Sex Sells News

Two lap dancing venues are amongst the first in Scotland to fall foul of the country's new licensing laws.

Spearmint Rhino, rival Seventh Heaven, and The Glaswegian Bar, all in Glasgow, have been denied licences under the new act which comes in on September 1.

The decisions mean they will have to shut up shop on that date unless they appeal to the courts. They have been told the refusal follows evidence collected by licensing standards officers (LSOs), which were newly created under the act to form part of the local authority's general enforcement team. It aims to bring breaches of the law and policies to the attention of the licensing boards.

Glasgow Licensing Board heard how early last month CCTV footage showed two dancers at Spearmint Rhino stripped naked, breaching local policies. The board heard that officers whilst conducting an inspection relative to the code of conduct, viewed premises' CCTV and witnessed two dancers removing their lower garments to knee level thereby exposing their genitalia. In a separate incident, officers also witnessed several dancers making considerable contact with patrons whilst performing.

Spearmint Rhino, was also reported for breaching low cost alcohol policies and allegations an employee exposed her breasts while handing out flyers in Glasgow city centre.

LSO evidence also resulted in the refusal of a licence under the 2005 Act to Seventh Heaven after LSO evidence that eight dancers had removed lower garments, the board making its decision on the basis that refusal prevents crime and disorder and protects and improves public health.

Both lap dancing venues had explained that the staff involved in the incidents were previously Edinburgh based, where full nudity is permitted, and had been reprimanded while the board said it fully expected appeals to the sheriff.

Evidence that led to the decision on Friday to refuse the Glaswegian in Bridge Street a licence included allegations of sectarian behaviour, intimidation of LSOs and local residents, and ineffectual management. The court heard that on one occasion the arrival of the LSOs was announced by the DJ over the speaker system as The Noise Police and was followed by customers shouting obscenities about the Pope to the tune of Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline while the officers waited to speak to management.

All three are expected to appeal which, if ongoing by September, allows them to continue trading until there is an outcome.

Update: Glasgow licensing board imposes a moral code on lap dancing

29th June 2009.  Based on article from theherald.co.uk

The head of Glashow's largest licensing authority has declared war on lap dancing clubs despite allowing one venue to remain open. Stephen Dornan, chairman of Glasgow Licensing Board, said he was issuing a last chance to adult entertainment venues after granting a licence to the club Forbidden and delaying a decision on another until August.

But industry sources have accused Councillor Dornan of running a show trial and attempting to use the board to impose a moral code in line with that supported by Glasgow City Council.
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Observers had expected that after the last board meeting all lap dancing venues in Glasgow would have had their licences revoked. At the meeting, the board heard further LSO evidence in relation to Forbidden, formerly Legs'N'Co, including one incident in March when inspectors witnessed a dancer removing her lower garments to above knee level and that considerable contact was also made between the dancer and patron.

After being told the dancer had been immediately sacked after the matter was brought to the attention of the management, Councillor Dornan said: This issue of dancers doing what they're not supposed to do keeps reoccuring.

It doesn't happen here (full nudity). This isn't London and Glasgow isn't turning into Soho. We have conditions and if you're not complying with them then go to London, Edinburgh or Birmingham. It's not acceptable to say that the dancers have come from other areas where this is permitted and don't know our rules. This behaviour won't be tolerated in Glasgow and members here support that.

Diamond Dolls will find out in August whether its conversion' to the new regime will go ahead after the board raised last minute objections about changes to the lay-out which it said now included a private dance area.

But afterwards one leading industry source said the board were making little effort to conceal their efforts to rid Glasgow of adult entertainment venues. He said: It's all just about running a show trial. Councillor Dornan has made clear his distaste for these venues but its not about his taste or the morals of the council. It's about the law.

A bar owner has caused nutter 'outrage' by bringing- lap dancing to a well-heeled Cheshire town.

Pete Tapper is opening ST Lounge on Wilmslow's main shopping street.

It has a licence to open until the early hours and will feature high-class striptease, according to the club boss.

Tapper promises to attract an upmarket and well-behaved clientele to the Grove Street bar - but says he is not surprised his plans face opposition. Tapper, who runs another lap dancing club in Stoke-on-Trent called ST1, said: I know this will generate a lot of interest, both positive and negative. But people have nothing to fear. It will be of interest to customers but also to what I call the 'blue rinse brigade' and I imagine I will come up against some opposition in Wilmslow. It will be a full-time lap dancing club but will not cause disruption in the area."

Coun Frank Keegan said: It is quite appalling to have this in the centre of Wilmslow, which is a family town. It is totally inappropriate. The proprietors say it will cater for a more mature customer - by that I take it they mean dirty old men. Maybe there will be a run on macs in the local shops. Hopefully, it will go bust, it won't attract customers and will wither on the vine.

The first lap-dancing club may yet open in  Crouch End - as a new bid to host adult entertainment is launched.

Owners of Music Palace, in Tottenham Lane, have lodged another planning application with Haringey Council to allow the bar to be used as a Gentleman's Club with table dancing.

Campaigners from opposition group Lap Off! have pledged to fight on to quash the plans.

Lindsay Wright, Lap Off! nutter, said: We have a lot of support behind us. The council seems to have woken up to the idea that this is not a good idea for Haringey - there seems to be a lot of political and public support behind us and we're very confident.

A previous licensing application to Haringey Council was withdrawn by Music Palace's owners on April 22 after residents uncovered a 30-year-old condition on the club's lease banning use for any illegal or immoral purpose.

The condition, known as a restrictive covenant, is legally binding but the landlord may have chosen to overlook it. A second restriction banning booze sales at the former Salvation Army citadel hall has already been broken for several years.

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said: I share local residents' concern about having a lap dancing club in the heart of Crouch End. Residents need to be given enough time and opportunity to raise their concerns with this application, and I will be with them every step of the way to make sure this happens.

Crouch End Councillor, David Winskill, said: It's immensely disappointing for residents in the 'Lap Off!' campaign that their summer will be dominated by another fight to stop this application. This club is simply not wanted in Crouch End and we'll make every effort to ensure that it doesn't get the appropriate permission.

A lap dancing club in Eastbourne has been shut down. Bailiffs entered Indigo Redd in Seaside Road with police officers and a man was arrested but later released without charge.

The premises were boarded up and a notice of forfeiture plastered on the entrances warning people that landlord Hurst Springs Holdings Limited had taken possession of the building. The notice addressed to Paul David Jones and Liza-Jane Jones informed them that their lease dated June 10, 2008 was forfeited.

Hours after the closure, Eastbourne Borough Council's licensing sub-committee reconvened to hear the second stage of a hearing of an application by Indigo Redd to open 24 hours a day seven days a week.

The sub-committee members heard evidence from the council's noise team, the planning department and Sussex Police as well as residents regarding the issues of crime, disorder, noise and nuisance. A council spokesman said, The application was refused on the grounds that an extension of hours would undermine the licensing objectives relating to crime and disorder and the prevention of nuisance. The sub-committee refused the application, having heard insufficient evidence to depart from its cumulative impact policy.

In a demo on 22 May over 100 people joined the Stop the Strip campaign's loud and noisy protest against a lap dancing club in New Cross, south London.

A local publican whose pub had been going downhill for some time had decided to turn it into the White Hart "Gentlemen's Club". Initially the local council (Lewisham) rejected the licensing application but the publican appealed to the courts and won.

Nutter Socialist Party councillors Ian Page and Chris Flood and Socialist Party members organised the Stop the Strip campaign to end lap dancing at the club.

Local people feel threatened or intimidated by this club. One protester on the demo, June, told us: I can't walk past there at night now. When they (the men visiting the bar) come outside they ogle you, saying and shouting things to you - it doesn't matter what age you are as well.

Ian Page and Chris Flood will be presenting a resolution to the council calling for a Compulsory Purchase Order on the White Hart, ensuring that it is put to better use for the community.

Update: Another Protest

2nd June 2009. See article from southlondon-today.co.uk

Around 100 people – including residents, councillors, business owners and Goldsmiths College students – waved placards outside the club, in New Cross Road, on Friday.

Campaigner Steve Carrick-Davies, 45, said: We are not arguing that the club is illegal or that the owner has done anything wrong. We are just saying we don’t want this kind of place in this area.

Club owner Ken Linwood has claimed the criticism is unfair and that the club has brought no trouble to the area: The club hasn’t caused any trouble at all since opening.

Swiss banking giant UBS is fighting plans for a strip club at its own Leisure World complex in Southampton.

The new lap-dancing club would offer pole dancing classes until 9pm when strippers will provide adult entertainment until 5am for up to 140 customers.

But UBS fears the families and young adults could be deterred from visiting its restaurants and cinema.

UBS wants councillors to throw out a licence application citing other councils who have experienced an increase in crime and disorder.

It warns the club could attract potential public nuisances to the area such as unlicensed taxis, pimps and prostitutes.

And UBS claims the proposal would harm the development of children through the overt promotion of sexual activities.

Male and female dancers are already being recruited for the lap and pole-dancing club which would create up to 29 local jobs.

Southampton councillors will decide whether to grant a licence on Thursday.

Update: Licence Granted

25th May 2009. See article from thisishampshire.net

Plans to open a strip club have been given the green light by council chiefs. Glamour lap-dancing club, which will feature fully nude dancing, could open its doors at Southampton’s Leisure World complex in as little as two weeks’ time.

Committee chairman Cllr Brian Parnell said there was no legal reason to refuse the club permission.

The UK parliament edged a step closer to repealing the archaic crimes of seditious libel and criminal defamation, as the House of Lords debated the government’s Coroners and Justice Bill on its second reading.

Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Anthony Lester QC, indicated his intention to table an amendment to the Bill that would abolish seditious and criminal libel, saying:

It took us 140 years to abolish the crime of blasphemy; I hope that this House will see fit to remove these crimes from our statute book as well. I hope that the government will support the amendments; indeed, there were straws in the wind indicating that they might do so.

Speaking at a meeting in Holborn, Dr Evan Harris said that he has heard supportive noises from the Ministry of Justice on this issue. Index on Censorship and English PEN will be lobbying the government to formalise this support, as soon as possible.

For campaigners, the abolition of seditious libel and criminal defamation in the UK would be an invaluable tool in the fight for free expression worldwide. In recent years, both Article 19 and International PEN have produced research on the widespread use of sedition and criminal defamation laws to silence legitimate political protest.

The Anglican Bishop of Leicester has called on the Government to outline what steps they are taking to deal with trafficking at the London 2012 Olympics.

Bishop Timothy Stevens raised the issue of trafficking labour and prostitution at question time in the House of Lords.

Lord Brett, for the Government, replied: We are on our guard: we are forewarned, we are responsible for the Olympic Games, and this matter is at the forefront of our strategy.

We have already been successful but it is still right to ask what we are doing.

The Metropolitan Police will have responsibility for this in the London area and we are strengthening provision for them in the next 12 months to ensure that they are prepared.

A property developer is hoping to open a new lap dancing club in West Street in Bristol's Old Market area. He is now waiting for planning permission from Bristol City Council before he can open it up to customers.

But the move has been predictably criticised by nutters who believe massage parlours, lap dancing clubs and adult film shops drag Old Market down and discourage visitors.

However, Mr Zadeh, who owns four shops and several flats in Old Market, believes the venue would attract wealthy people to the area. He insists his club would provide a big boost to the local economy during the recession by creating jobs for door staff, bar staff, managers and lap dancers.

And with 54 shops standing empty in the Old Market area, Zadeh reckons any business expressing an interest in trading in the area should be welcomed with open arms.

A group called Old Market Residents' and Traders' Association was set up earlier this month with the aim of giving the area a facelift with improved street furniture, new bins and flowers, and, of course, to have a whinge at adult businesses.

Zadeh believes more trouble is caused by customers at nightclubs and bars offering cheap alcohol than at lap dancing clubs: Lap dancing clubs attract businessmen, not noisy people. It's dancing and art and there is no physical contact between the dancers and the customers. There will be at least 80 CCTV cameras in operation in the club as well as bouncers, so it will be a safe place. There will be no cheap drinks and the people who visit will be people who can afford it and these are not the sort of people who will create trouble.

Update: Resubmitted Proposals

24th September 2009. See article from thisisbristol.co.uk

A campaign group is calling on residents to object to plans for another lap dancing club in Old Market. Proposals have been submitted to Bristol City Council to convert the former Ghana Goods shop in West Street, which is next to an existing lap dancing club.

The previous application was withdrawn after the planning officer indicated that it would be rejected on the grounds of loss of residential space. The new application has added extra residential space in the roof.

Update: Meanwhile at Temptations

19th October 2009. See article from thisisbristol.co.uk

A club in Bristol has been allowed to have lap dancing for up to 19 hours a day. Temptations, on the corner of West Street and Waterloo Street in Old Market, can only allow a maximum of 100 people inside the premises when lap dancing takes place. In addition, the club must provide door supervisors whenever the dancers are performing.

Councillors agreed a renewal of licence for the club despite objections from local nutters.

Kerry Barker, for the club, said the application was simply to renew the licence which had already been in place. He said there was no evidence that the club, which previously operated under the former owners as Club Creme, caused any problems. He added that there were no objections from any of the authorities, including the police.

Chairman Councillor Alex Woodman (Lib Dem, Cabot) said they had to make a decision within licensing laws, not on moral or ethical grounds.

A property company has been appointed to sell the North East nightspots belonging to Absolute Leisure, which went into receivership last week, putting more than 50 jobs at risk.

It will oversee the sale of Newcastle-based Absolute’s two Purple Door lap dancing clubs in Kingston upon Hull and Doncaster. Joint administrator Gerald Krasner from Begbies Traynor, said: The directors closed the [Purple Door] clubs in Kingston upon Hull on Thursday night, however the Doncaster club is continuing to trade. We are confident of finding buyers for the sites.

The Purple Door clubs were run by Lookchart Ltd, which is part of the Absolute Leisure group.

Satanic Sluts III: Scandalized is a 2009 UK adult video by Nigel Wingrove (Redemption Films)

Notable for starring Georgina Baillie aka as Voluptua, the grandaughter who Russell Brand claimed on air to have 'fucked' in a phone message to Andrew Sachs.

The BBFC cut the DVD by 9:25s when submitted in 2009: Distributor chose to remove images of explicit and unsimulated sexual activity in order to achieve an '18' category (in this instance, explicit detail of cunnilingus, dildo penetration and digital penetration). An 'R18' uncut was available.

Not really sure what version has been issued in the US but it is nominally unrated. This unrated US region 0 DVD is available at US Amazon

Nutters have hit out at Hertford newspapers which they claim are fuelling the exploitation of vulnerable women by running personal services advertisements.

The St Albans Review banned all "adult" advertisements in July 2008 after being persuaded of a mythical link between the ads and women trafficked for sex.

But other local publications continue to take money from such advertisements.

Bishop of Hertford Christopher Foster said: It is now over nine months since the Newsquest group of newspapers banned personal services ads in its titles –a move which The Right Reverend Christopher Herbert commended before his retirement as Bishop of St Albans last year.

I share his view. Since Newquest took its ethical stance, at least one other major newspaper owner has joined the three our four who recognise that these ads can support sex-trafficking. I call on all newspaper owners who have yet to take this step to keep in tune with the prevailing mood and to ban these ads in their titles. I also ask that the public look at where newspapers stand on this issue when they place advertisements in them.

Detective Superintendent Mark Drew said: Hertfordshire Constabulary have commended the Newsquest group of newspapers. [But] we do not believe that Hertfordshire has a significant problem with prostitution or people trafficking.

When sex and politics collide, it is usually no more than an excuse for some good old-fashioned crudity, along with a hefty dose of journalistic double standards and, more often than not, ministerial embarrassment. How else to deconstruct the serious but essentially misguided furore over expenses-gate, in which it was revealed that Jacqui Smith had signed off expenses for home entertainment (serious breach) that also happened to feature some smuttiness (mostly trivial)?

However, recent developments in Australia, coupled with a serious Labour obsession with sex – quite distinct from gender – raise the question of whether the issue might not eventually find its way on to the UK political agenda as a vote-winner (or loser) in its own right.

...Read full article

An Exeter bar has applied for a licence to become a lap dancing club.

EX4 bar, in Fore Street, plans to transform its top floor into a lap dancing and pole dancing club called Eden Lounge.

The venue would see up to 10 girls providing entertainment — including private naked shows.

The owner of the bar, businessman Ali Anvari, insists the club will be well managed with tight security, but the proposals have been met with some predictable nutter concern.

City centre manager John Harvey said: I don't think this is something which is appropriate for the city centre. I have anxieties that as we are seeking to create a city centre that is welcoming and family-focused this will not take us in the right direction.

And the Rev Andrew Sails, of The Mint Methodist Church, on Fore Street, said: Fore Street is used widely for social purposes and it has a good, family atmosphere. I would be very disappointed if the proposals were allowed to go through.

If granted permission, the bar will become the city's only lap dancing venue after Tiffany's, on Exeter Quay, closed earlier in the year.

The public have until Monday, April 20, to object to the proposals. If no representations are received, the licence for a lap dancing club will be granted by the council, without it going before councillors on the authority's licensing committee.

A spokesman for Exeter City Council said: Only if we receive relevant representations will this matter be placed before a licensing sub-committee. Objections based on need or moral grounds are not relevant objections.

Update: Mint Church: Dangerous and Unwelcome

29th April 2009. See article from thisisexeter.co.uk

The proposals have prompted concerns from police who claim the current control and management of the bar is an issue. John Bean, alcohol-related crime reduction officer for Devon and Cornwall police, said: Our representation is mainly based upon crime and disorder issues which we've had at the premises. There have been a number of problems there recently. There are concerns about the premises and we are in close consultation with the owner and manager.

The Rev Andrew Sails, of the Mint Methodist Church, said the introduction of a lap-dancing club into the area would be a dangerous and unwelcome move. In a letter of objection to the council, he said: Our concern is that the introduction of lap dancing would tend to attract those who could use it as a cover for criminal aspects of the sex industry — including trafficking. It would also increase the risk that girls and women nearby would meet with unwelcome, intimidating and/or offensive attention and even physical attack.

But owner of EX4, Ali Anvari, insisted the club would be well managed with tight security. He said: We have had a meeting with the police about the plans. They wanted to see how the place is going to be run. We are aware that the police have had some concerns about the bar. We had a meeting with the superintendent about our buy-one-get-one-free offer, which they wanted us to stop, which we have now.

The plans are due to be discussed by the city council's licensing sub-committee on Wednesday.

Update: Licence Approved

4th May 2009. See article from thisisexeter.co.uk

EX4 bar in Exeter has been granted permission for a lap dancing club on its top floor.

The decision was made after city councillors heard several hours of argument from the bar's owner and objectors to the plan.

Ali Anvari, owner of Fore Street bar EX4, applied to change its premises licence so he can hold erotic dancing — including private naked shows — and employ up to 10 girls, in what will be called the Eden Lounge.

The council's licensing committee granted the application subject to conditions relating to public safety. It found no evidence to support objections under the headings of crime and disorder, public nuisance or protecting children from harm.

After the meeting, Supt John Vellacott said: I have my concerns, which I expressed to the hearing. I'm still not totally comfortable with the situation, however I respect the decision that's been made.

A bid to host striptease and naked lap dancing in Wood Green was vetoed by Haringey Council supposedly because of the proposed club's proximity to schools.

The owner of Bar N22 in the High Road was told he could not offer adult entertainment, after just two objectors voiced fears it would harm the community.

Susan Garrad, a mum and playgroup volunteer of Noel Park, listed schools, churches and community groups near to the venue and said: I contend people will know what's going on and parents will then have to explain something they might not want to deal with until a child is older, or will have to lie to their children.

The licensing committee made the dubious ruling under relaxed licensing laws at Haringey Council's Civic Centre - opposite Bar N22, formerly known as Charlie Browns.

Varinder Kaur, service manager at a sheltered housing scheme, next door to Bar N22, said the plan would negatively impact on the home's 22 elderly residents. She ludicrously claimed: They're old, they're vulnerable, they will be isolated and living inside and there is a danger their grandchildren and children will not be visiting them. That is going to have an effect on their well being and health and safety, so we are concerned.

The anti-prostitution campaigners of Eaves Housing have launched their Nothing Personal campaign calling on councillors and editors to take action against prostitution in their areas

Denise Marshall, Eaves chief executive, said: In London’s local papers 80 per cent of ads for adult massage parlours or saunas are fronts for brothels, where men can buy sex.

Newspaper owners turn a blind eye to this, insisting that they do not advertise anything illegal, while banking their gains from the sex industry.

At the same time, men who want to buy sex have only to open their local paper, choose a service and make a quick phone call.

All the contacts they need are there for them.

American burlesque artist Dita Von Teese has urged her fellow performers to defy a new law banning nightclubs from having stripper shows without a licence, saying it is what makes risqué dance routines exciting.

The artist is adamant that strippers should always strive to bend the rules, as it is a tradition in the saucy trade.

It’s not unusual for burlesque to be regulated because it always has been, and the stars of burlesque from the past had to deal with it, Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

The challenges of getting around the laws and the risque element were always a part of what made burlesque exciting. Perhaps these clubs will install the historic `red light, green light` that they had in burlesque clubs to tell the performers whether the cops were in the house or not, she added.

Major music venues in central London face having their licences revoked if they continue staging burlesque events.

Camden council has warned that any establishment putting on burlesque will be treated as a strip club and have to pass repressive licensing procedures.

The move jeopardises the future of shows at some of the biggest venues in the capital, such as the Roundhouse, KoKo and the Proud Gallery.

Burlesque - which features partial nudity and striptease - is considered art by its advocates and distinct from the activities of lap-dancing clubs.

Performers such as Dita Von Teese have led a resurgence in burlesque which has attracted a celebrity following including the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

But Camden has deemed burlesque too risqué for normal pubs and clubs and has told venues they must reapply for adult entertainment licences as officials insist it should be classed as adult entertainment of a sexual nature.

The council said: Camden's licensing policy states that any premises in the borough that wishes to offer entertainment involving nudity, striptease or other entertainment of an adult nature will need approval from the licensing authority - burlesque falls within this criteria.

Comment: Spokespillock

30th April 2009, thanks to Alan

You cite a spokespillock from Camden saying: burlesque falls within this criteria

Shouldn't a sanctimonious twat who wants to use posh foreign words at least master grammar? THIS CRITERIA????? Singular: criterion; plural: criteria.
This criterion or these criteria! Gottit?

'Plans to open a lap dancing club in the heart of Crouch End have been put on ice.

The bid by the managers of Music Palace in Tottenham Lane was postponed at the request of their solicitor.

A showdown between the Music Palace and residents' campaign group Lap Off! was looming on May 14.

Late on Wednesday the solicitor for Serdal Ziya asked Haringey's licensing department to postpone the hearing. No date has been set for it to be relisted - but, crucially, it has not been officially withdrawn.

The news is widely seen as a victory for the nutters of Lap Off! objectors, whose calls to arms were backed by councillors on both sides of the political divide.

Nutters who fought a long-running battle against plans for a lapdancing club are celebrating after the owners withdrew a legal challenge.

Residents near The Crescent bar in West Kensington were dismayed when owner, Passion Nights, applied to turn part of the venue into a strip club, ludicrously fearing kerb crawlers and prostitutes would be drawn to the area.

An appeal was launched at West London Magistrates' Court after councillors threw out the plans in November - but was finally withdrawn this week in the face of wide spread opposition.

Nutter leader Joe Carlebach said: Our concern was that a lap dancing club would bring more crime, especially with sex workers and kerb crawlers. It's also right next door to a library where my children go, and I don't want to have to explain to my four-year-old daughter what a lap dancing club is and why people are hanging around..

Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush MP Andy Slaughter, who has been fighting alongside the residents, said: I am delighted by this outcome. I have put a lot of effort into the campaign - asking questions to the Home Secretary, petitioning locally, holding a public meeting and giving evidence at the licensing panel.

But the main credit must go to the thousands of individual protesters and the organising committee of residents. This is a textbook case of how to fight and beat commercial interests intent on destroying a local neighbourhood for private gain.

Proposals for a lap dancing club in King's Lynn have been given the go-ahead, despite apathetic opposition.

The lap dancing club, which will be on the corner of Norfolk Street and Railway Road, has been criticised by ward councillor Lesley Bambridge who said it objectified women.

I am just bitterly disappointed. I thought that we are supposed to be regenerating - this to me is degeneration, said Miss Bambridge: I just think it's not what we want to improve our town.

She said that although there were several public comments against the application, not all of those who objected actually put their thoughts in writing to the council.

Unfortunately I could not be at the meeting, I hadn't known that it was going to be called in until a couple of days beforehand, she said.

“I am disappointed because I did attach to my email a report that was done for Glasgow City Council about women being treated as objects, that as well as the police concerns were my major points.

“The people I have spoken to just didn't put their concerns in writing - people say yes, I will send a letter but I don't think they did.

More or less everyone I spoke to said how awful it was.”

A council report said people living around Norfolk Street already experienced high levels of noise and disturbance late at night and there was already a high-profile police presence in the area: Consequently, it can be concluded that the proposal will not materially alter the character of Norfolk Street and the surrounding area and consent may be granted.

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A Southampton strip club has called time on topless dancing in a bid to beat the recession.

Aqua Lounge in Above Bar, formerly known as Poletrixx, is to lose its lap dancers and focus more on events and live entertainment.

Owner Victoria Andrews said the move has been planned for a while with the recession and proposed new laws which could result in people in the community having a say where lap dancing venues are allowed to operate.

We have been here for around ten years now and I think that has almost been a miracle, she said: With new legislation being proposed it seemed like the right time for a change. I only want to do this if I can control it and not be told what we can and can’t do.

Victoria also said that takings had dropped in the independent city centre venue through the recession: We have still been getting the same number of people in but they just haven’t been spending as much money and it has been noticeable. And it was the closure of The Grapes, such an iconic pub for Southampton, that was a bit of a wake-up call.

Update: Too Risky

25th April 2009 See article from eastbourneherald.co.uk

A lap dancing club in Eastbourne has closed, with its owner blaming the recession for its demise.

Risky's, which was in the basement of American-themed bar Minnesota Jax in Seaside Road, closed its doors on March 14.

Bar owner Darren Bush said the club had been going for two years but had been hit by the economic downturn.

The tabloid Sunday Mercury is spinning all sorts of nonsense about a Birmingham spanking studio talking of 18+ adults in terms of 'teenage boys':

A pensioner is luring teenage boys to take part in seedy spanking sessions. John Bolle has even set up a mock classroom and punishment dungeon to stage the sadistic movies which he is selling on to perverts in the United States.

He looks for young men, 18 to 28, who can take a reasonable amount of corporal punishment given by the hand, slipper, belt or the dragon cane over clothing and on the bare bottom.’

Bolle offers them the chance to be that new up-and-coming spanking video boy star of the future!

Weoley councillor Adrian Delaney said: The fact this is going on in our ward is very disturbing and I am certainly concerned. I am fairly broad-minded but the mind boggles. It is not something we are used to in this area. People are free to do what they wish behind closed doors but this is very strange. I am concerned they are advertising for boys as young as 18. Perhaps what they are doing is legal but we have to be careful with this kind of activity.’

A Sunday Mercury 'reporter' posed as an interested party to arrange an undercover meeting with Bolle who dresses up as a strict schoolmaster and spanks young men who have been ‘naughty boys’.

Bolle has been involved in the Midlands’ spanking scene for two decades. A mock classroom has been set up near Nottingham city centre for more filming: The place in Nottingham is fitted out for video with a classroom and a nurses office if people want to do medical inspections. We have a 40 year-old who looks a picture when he puts on his hat, grey shorts and satchel.

The films have proved a hit with Americans who, Bolle claimed, prefer the authentic look Amateur Midland Productions offer: Some stuff made in America is so weak, people prefer our films as they are real. We can really whack them hard, we call them rhinos because their skin is so thick.

When it comes to sex and censorship, Government's insistence that laws are evidence-based is little more than hot air.

The statistics quoted in support of any given case are frequently misleading, partial, and - according to one expert in this field - subject to highly unethical collusion of interest between government and researchers.

From rape to lap-dancing, from internet harm to obscure sexual practices, evidence is used to back a narrow politicised agenda, rather than as a basis from which to develop policy.

...Read full article

A venue that sparked nutter 'outrage' by offering pole dancing six years ago is now bidding to launch lap dancing in Wood Green.

The plan could see lap dancing at the former Charlie Browns nightclub in High Road, Wood Green. The venue now called Grand Palace and Bar N22.

Nutter organisations predictably 'fear' the proposal could bring trouble to the area.

Raj Doshi, chairman of I Can Care - a drop-in centre for elderly residents based in nearby Woodside House, said: It may bring in a lot of ugliness. To me a dance is a dance, but if it brings in other stuff - drugs, prostitution, the shadowy characters, for all these reasons I would prefer, if I had a tick box, not to have it.

Shilpa Desai, vice-chairwoman of I Can Care aid: I don't know how that's going to work because as it is they're scared to go out at certain times. I think this part of Haringey, there are lots of families with young kids, there is a council estate which has got a lot of young people and I don't think this is going to help them.

Woodside ward councillor George Meehan (Labour) said: We would prefer that it isn't successful. The last time people weren't very happy, so I can't see that they'll suddenly become happy. Wood Green shouldn't be any different to Crouch End or Tottenham, therefore we wouldn't expect anyone to be any more welcoming. I assume they will make their views known quite forcefully.

Residents can comment on the Grand Palace/Bar N22 application until Tuesday, April 14, by contacting Haringey Council licensing team on 020 8489 8232, or licensing@haringey.gov.uk.

The Good: Little evidence of widespread trafficking

Agencies have identified 79 alleged victims of human trafficking in Scotland between April 2007 and March 2008, most of whom were women said to be forced into prostitution.

But the only Scottish human trafficking case brought to the courts collapsed in 2007 due to a lack of evidence.

The government-published report pointed out there had been some successful human trafficking prosecutions in England and Wales, resulting in some of the largest sentences in Europe.

The Bad: Lack of evidence isn't going stop politicians claiming a widespread problem

See article from dailyrecord.co.uk

Foreign police could be drafted in to help Scots forces bring human traffickers to justice, a report said today. The Scottish Government report suggested police from victims' countries could be seconded to help local officers in a bid to tackle the problem.

Injustice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: This new research shows the scale of the problem and highlights the importance of genuine multi-agency working to ensure that victims of trafficking are given the support they need and those exploiting them are brought to justice.

And The Bollox: There are 32,000 Trafficked Women in Britain

See article from guardian.co.uk

Rahila Gupta, author of  Enslaved, The New British Slavery, claims in the Guardian today that there are at least 32,000 trafficked women in Britain. She writes:

"In Britain, it is estimated that 80% of the 80,000 women in prostitution are foreign nationals, most of whom have been trafficked".

Comment: Illiberal Liberals

3rd April 2009. Thanks to Alan

I never cease to be amazed by the way in which victim feminism makes this purportedly liberal newspaper so highly illiberal.

Gupta's piece is pretty typical. We have the "foreign = trafficked" myth. Then there's the inflated stats - 32,000 - or is it 80,000? - "trafficked" women.

Some time ago, Professor Julia O'Connell Davidson, who (a) is a real feminist and (b) knows what's she's talking about, exploded this bollox in a letter to the Guardian itself. O'Connell Davidson pointed out even the lower of these figures would amount to a number of traffickees larger than the entire workforce of Debenham's throughout the UK. Additionally, when she looked at the actual number of women found in raided brothels who said they had been trafficked as a proportion of all prostitutes in the establishments, she worked out that to arrive at the claimed figure of trafficked women there would pretty well have to be a knocking shop in every street.

Offsite: Red mist obscures red light statistics

5th April 2009. See article from guardian.co.uk by Belinda Brooks-Gordon

Campaigners too readily accept inflated figures for trafficked women, but we must base our policy on evidence, not emotion.

To argue there is a universal truth about trafficking does science, policy and trafficked people a disservice. The figure of 80,000 sex workers (which included women, men and transsexuals) in the UK was first suggested in 1999 in a Europap-UK briefing paper. Despite its speculative nature and the author Hilary Kinnell's refusal to make claims beyond her data, the estimate of 80,000 has been widely reported as a firm figure, often applying only to women and often in the context of claims that the sex industry is expanding rapidly (which cannot be the case if the figure of 80,000 has remained the same for 10 years).

Herein lies the difference between Rahila Gupta, the legion of no doubt well-intentioned commentators on this subject, and serious academics. The academic body of work takes time, has to be reviewed and scrutinised and as a result the media often loses interest by the time a piece is published. The work will be debated in conferences and seminars and flaws are ironed out. Whereas the truth so confidently exhibited by Gupta, like Nick Davies's flat earth news stories, go from press release to press agency to newsroom to Home Office to press release and so on. The result of such hyper-inflation is policy that spreads resources too thinly sometimes missing the really needy; and over-zealous campaigning that criminalises clients, friends, maids and receptionists makes women less safe. When looking for a needle in haystack, it doesn't make sense to keep making the haystack bigger. We have reached a crisis of sorts. And at a time of crisis, when there is a desperation to find the right policy, then a return to the slow, steady grind of the academe is necessary.

...Read full article

Detective Inspector Kevin Hylind, who heads up the Met’s Vice Unit said newspapers such as the South London Press (SLP) were directly fuelling the misery of thousands of women trapped in the sex trade.

He said: Some of these adverts actually fuel the trafficking of women who are put into horrible circumstances and I think its both a moral duty and the responsibility of newspapers not to join that sort of activity.

You would not accept people advertising drugs or stolen property. But the selling of sexual services for gain or control is illegal. These newspapers are advertising an illegal act.”

He said people working in the newspaper industry knowingly advertising sex for financial gain could be prosecuted if cases against them were provable.

DI Hylind claimed that every business advertised in newspapers his unit had investigated turned out to be a brothel run by pimps, and most contained women who had been trafficked from eastern Europe or southeast Asia, who were being held against their will.

[Presumably the vice squad only investigate those businesses suspected of trafficking!]

Councillor Mohammed Iqbal with Rosie Robinson

Nutters want a sexy logo removed from a Leeds strip club opposite the city's town hall and art gallery.

The silhouette of a woman on all fours dressed in a cat costume is the branding for the Wildcats lapdancing club chain.

Nutters ludicrously claim the image is sexually provocative, offensive to families and unsuitable for the location opposite the town hall and art gallery.

Having succeeded in getting overtly sexual signs removed from several city centre lapdancing clubs, objectors claim the logo at the club on The Headrow is as offensive as pictures of naked women.

Rosie Robinson Boardman, spokeswoman for the Leeds Object campaign, said: It is quite clearly sexually overt and it's obvious this is a lapdancing club. This is a lovely, high profile area of Leeds, round the corner from the museum. You come to Leeds for a wonderful cultural experience at the town hall, art gallery or library, and you are slapped with the sex industry in front of you.

The law says clubs must not display outside their venues any photos or other images which indicate or suggest that striptease or similar dancing takes place on the premises. A council investigation concluded the catwoman logo was NOT offensive enough to be banned.

Nutters backed by Councillor Mohammed Iqbal are determined to get the decision overturned. Coun Iqbal said the council had been encouraging families to move into the city centre for many years but doing nothing in this case would have the opposite effect.

A spokesman for Wildcats Leeds laughed off the objections, saying it was further proof of people with too much time on their hands. We have operated in eight different towns for five years and it's genuinely the first time this issue has been raised. Do these people want Catwoman banned too? It seems a nonsense.

A Leeds City Council spokesman said: We investigated and requested the removal of signage from a number of lap-dancing establishments in Leeds. However, we did conclude that the signage at Wildcats did not contravene the licence conditions. We recognise that Object have principled objections to lap dancing. However, the activity is lawful where it is correctly licensed.