22 May (Part 2) - Lap dancing clubs in Bexley - just what is our Licensing Committee up to?
I once suggested that Bexley council’s Standards Board might
meet in a lap dancing club,
but I believed I was joking; now I’m not so sure. Teresa Pearce, MP for Erith & Thamesmead has dug up
something that had passed me by; that Bexley council has cut the licence fee for
a lap dancing club from £22,573 to £8,995. What were they thinking of? The whole
meeting lasted only ten minutes but that doesn’t surprise me, I’ve long thought
that council meetings are pure theatre and the real work is done at the bar of
the Old Bexley & Sidcup Conservative Association.
Teresa says such clubs “create a culture in which it is acceptable to treat
women as sex objects”, very likely if not certainly, but I have heard that it
has financed many an impoverished student through university. Whatever one’s
views it is probably indisputable that very few would want one near their home.
Teresa says that “areas surrounding the clubs can become ‘no-go’ areas for
women”. I doubt all men are totally comfortable about walking by such an
establishment either.
The councillors who approved the fee reduction were Michael Slaughter
(chairman), Brian Beckwith, Stefano Borella, John Davey, Alan Deadman, Ross
Downing, Eleanor Hurt, Eileen Pallen, Harry Persaud, Philip Read, Melvin
Seymour, Brad Smith and John Wilkinson. Read what Teresa has to say on
her website
where she is running a petition against Bexley being a favoured
location for sex clubs as the council’s low fees have encouraged.