UK Sex Sells News

A Labour mayoral candidate has promised to try to ban strip clubs from Bristol. Marvin Rees pledged to rid the city of sexual entertainment venues if he is elected, claiming they could feed into wider inequality.

But strippers took to social media to criticise him for trying to destroy the livelihood of hundreds of women , bandwagon jumping and criminalising women in the industry.

But stripper Esme Worrell branded his ideas as short-sighted and patronising . She said Rees should investigate the clubs himself to see how they are run:

I think a man storming in and telling us that he's going to ban our work ... it is patronising because why should somebody be telling me what I should be doing with my body?

In a consensual adult environment...you shouldn't be able to police other people's work choices, if they are legal.

Rees said his pledge was backed by the mayor's women's commission:

In the last election, all mayoral candidates supported a 'nil cap' on sexual entertainment venues. We've just listened to what women have said.

He blathered:

A real concern was whether the venues feed into wider inequalities that are faced by women. Is the price paid by wider Bristol very very high for this?

Offsite Comment: Marvin the Paranoid Politician

17th March 2016. See  article from strippingtheillusion.blogspot.com

The UK's poppers manufacturers should be allowed to operate while the government reviews the product's legality, the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said:

Poppers have been around for decades,The evidence shows they don't pose any great risk to health, and that's why they have never been banned before.

Frankly they could have been made exempt from the new act without the need for a review, but the government didn't want to admit they had got it wrong. While there is a review ongoing, of course the legitimate businesses that produce poppers should be allowed to continue to operate.

The government's psychoactive substances bill will come into force on 6 April, making poppers illegal in the UK. In response to calls to exempt the product from the bill in January, the government announced a review of the ban, which is expected to report before the summer recess in July, leaving a window of around three months in which UK poppers manufacturers risk going bust.

Poppers is the name given to the chemicals alkyl nitrites, which, when sniffed, give the user a short, sharp head rush. The substance was first circulated as an angina medicine before emerging as a party drug on the gay scene in the 1970s.

Poppers are particularly, though not exclusively, used by gay and bisexual men to enhance sexual pleasure, as they relax the muscles and make it easier to have anal sex. They are sold for about £5 a bottle in most sex shops and some cornershops and are available for anybody over the age of 16 to buy.

Offsite Article: The poppers ban...Will it criminalise gay users?

 

8th March  2016. See  article from theguardian.com
 

Offsite Article: The poppers ban is a veiled attack on pleasure

23rd March 2016. See  article from theguardian.com by David Nutt

XBIZ, a US adult industry trade group, has announced it will no longer run its European show in London. The 2016 XBIZ Europe event will take place in Berlin instead.

The show has taken place in London for the past five years, bringing together adult industry participants from around the world to talk business, regulation and politics. But the increasingly moralistic, censorious nature of the UK has forced XBIZ to reconsider. As this blog has often pointed out, the UK stands almost alone in Europe in its determination to stamp out sexual expression. The UK's legitimate adult industry is virtually extinct, as operators have closed their doors or moved overseas. This has resulted in job losses as well as tax losses for the exchequer. XBIZ CEO Alec Helmy explained:

... we didn't foresee just how unfriendly UK would become toward adult. From ATVOD (previous content police) fining adult webmasters for non-compliance and scaring many out of business to radical feminists picketing our venues and local media's negative tone toward adult, the climate became more and more difficult as each year passed. And now with OFCOM (equivalent of FTC) taking full charge of content regulation, the general consensus is that things are going to get even bleaker.

As much as we've felt a sense of duty to empower the UK industry by returning each year, it's become too unwise for us to continue doing so.

So, we're packing up and relocating the conference to another one of Europe's top destinations for both business and pleasure, Berlin.

Miserable councillors in Leicester have refused a lap dancing license renewal over claims that customers were having too much fun.

Angels, in New Park Street, off Braunstone Gate, could now face closure after having its application for a renewed sexual entertainment licence rejected by Leicester City Council because it strippers were touching and fondling customers in an intimate and sexual manner.

Members of the council's licensing committee made the ruling after viewing CCTV footage obtained by police during a raid on the club on December 5.

Council licensing team manager Bobby Smiljanic whinged:

I was shown CCTV by the police which showed performers and members of the public clearly touching and fondling in an intimate and sexual manner.

She said the footage also showed strippers straddling customers - another forbidden practice.

The club is now considering appealing against the refusal at magistrates court. It has 21 days to lodge an appeal and can stay open until then and until any such hearing concludes.

Update: Fun Resumes

2nd February 2016. See  article from leicestermercury.co.uk

Angels is now challenging Leicester City Council's refusal to grant it a licence. It means the club can remain open until the court proceedings have ended which could take months or weeks.

One of London's favourite celebrity lap-dancing clubs is being investigated over a miserable claim some of its dancers are offering too much fun by breaking repressive no touching laws.

Platinum Lace which is popular with high profile stars is being probed by Westminster City Council over claims of impropriety surrounding their glamorous lap dancers. A number of their girls have allegedly allowed themselves to be touched by male customers in their VIP booths during dances which are offered at a minimum of £20 a time.

A spokeswoman for Westminster City Council confirmed that they were investigating the claims, saying: Our licensing team has reviewed the video evidence and will be contacting the venue to discuss.

Lap dancing clubs could be banned from Bournemouth in a repressive review of the borough's sexual entertainment policy.

The possibility of strip clubs being moved out of town or to some sort of industrial estate was mooted during a council discussion on the venues.

Cllr Andrew Morgan, chairman of the licensing board, has asked council officers to examine relevant case law before the authority puts its ideas out to public consultation in the coming months. He said:

If we do decide zero is the right number for SEVs (Sexual Entertainment Venues) we need to have clear reasons why we are doing that or else we leave ourselves very vulnerable to challenge.

If zero is the number for the town centre -- is there any other part of the borough that we think would be suitable? Perhaps some sort of industrial estate or something out of town?

Morgan claimed that the authority was not taking a moral view ...BUT... that the changes would be made on the basis of considering the locality and how the borough is shaping up .

Less concern was expressed about discreet sex shops which are subject to strict regulations restricting what can be displayed outside. Moragan moralised:

What we want to avoid is children walking by saying 'mummy, what is that?' On the SEV side it might be harder for a parent to answer a question like that.