The Met appear to have backed down further over Form 696, the 'risk assessment' document that venues in 21 London boroughs have to complete in advance of a show.
The form was branded racist as it asked for details of the audience's "likely ethnic group"; the aim, evidently, being to close down grime and garage nights and hence break the largely media-hyped link between black music and violence. The "ethnic" question was dropped from the form in December after protests by artists and promoters, and an inspection by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the Met have now dropped the category asking for "musical genre". But the form still asks for detailed information on the artists' movements and whereabouts, and has led to extreme behaviour by some venues, with Whitechapel's Rhythm Factory required on police advice to lock the passport of Dirty Canvas promoter David Moynihan in a safe during a January show.
Though the Met's review of the form is welcome, the fact that artists in one of the world's most energetic live music scenes are treated with such suspicion remains a major concern.
