https://youtube/watch?v=wjFLNjtA6uc Winners of London Mayor’s busking competition arrested for busking On the very same afternoon (Wednesday May 14th) that a special mayoral taskforce (Consisting of representatives from the Mayor’s office, the 32 London Boroughs, the Metropolitan Police, the Musician’s Union and the Keep Streets Live Campaign), met at City Hall to discuss ways of making London ‘the world’s most busker friendly city’, The King’s Parade-winners of the Mayor’s GIGS 2013 competition to find the capital’s best young buskers, were being arrested for busking in Leicester Square! Boris Johnson launched the #backbusking campaign on April 9th to address concerns that London was becoming a ‘no go’ area for buskers because of red tape and confusing regulations. He met Kilburn-based band The King’s Parade as he launched the annual GIGS competition which sees thousands of young musicians performing in public spaces across the capital and spoke of busking as being ‘the equivalent of yeast in the digestive system of whatever it is that makes culture wonderful’. City Hall has claimed that music tourists contribute £600 million a year to London’s economy. But as the mayoral taskforce met at City Hall to discuss ways of supporting busking in the capital, The King’s Parade, who performed on stage for the Mayors St Georges Day celebrations on Trafalgar Square on April 21, were interrupted by the police mid-song as they performed in Leicester Square in an incident that was captured on video by a bystander and later uploaded to Youtube. Informed by PC Morris (CW1607) that they were in breach of section 54 of the 1839 Metropolitan Police Act, “No person who shall blow any horn or use any other noisy instrument, for the purpose of calling persons together, or of announcing any show or entertainment, or for the purpose of hawking, selling, distributing, or collecting any article whatsoever, or of obtaining money or alms” Having been told they were under arrest by PC Morris, they waited for a police van and two police cars to arrive and were bundled into the van by 8 officers in front of a bemused crowd and accompanied by a chorus of boos. The 174 year old piece of legislation, which also prohibits kite-flying, sleigh riding and doorbell ringing, was used to justify the arrest of these four young musicians who were held at Paddington Station until 10:30 pm having been arrested at around 4 in the afternoon as the Mayoral taskforce was finishing at City Hall. The Kings Parade refused to accept a caution for the alleged offence, having been erroneously told that it would not go onto police records. They were released and told to expect a court summons in the post. The King’s Parade vocalist guitarist Olly Corpe, 22, said, “Weve been busking around London just over a year and it has offered us so many opportunities as a result. To be arrested for busking after winning the GIGS competition is an embarrassment when London is aiming to become the most busker friendly city in the world” Jonny Walker, Founding Director of the Keep Streets Live Campaign which advocates for the use of public space for the arts said, “The arrest of King’s Parade highlights the many problems facing buskers across the capital and the pressing need for the #backbusking campaign to succeed. It is hard to understand why 8 police officers were needed to arrest the winners of the Mayors busking competition for the ‘crime’ of entertaining the public and I’m sure many would agree that this is a scandalous misuse of scarce police time and resources. I hope this incident will be a springboard for meaningful change in the way London treats its buskers otherwise there is a real danger that talent will be scared off the streets for good’’ For more information contact: Olly Corpe, The Kings Parade facebook/thekingsparade thekingsparade soundcloud/thekingsparade Jonny Walker Founding Director of Keep Streets Live Campaign keepstreetslive
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 16:05:17 +0000
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