Let Them All In The New Musical Express is not
usually part of my required reading, but having been urged to study one of its editorials by one of my younger constituents 1 find myself interested in the point. Briefly it is that though in all the years when American artists were Top of the Pops we gave a warm welcome to them, now that the Beatle-led boom has shot our singers and groups into the lead some of them can't get full permits to work in America. The reasons given are odd. Wayne Fontana, for example, was told that he was 'insufficiently well known' in America at the time he was in fact No. 1 in the American charts. We could, of course, start a small war of reprisal but Ray Gunter, Minister of Labour, has refused to retaliate by restricting permits to American artists. Quite right too. Only the fans would suffer. That does not mean that the Government should do nothing, for in its small way this can become a large irritation. Over to you, Mr. Michael Stewart.
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