A Grand Idea?

Buskers in Oxford have been ordered to smile at all times or risk a £1,000 fine.

18:49 26 May 2015

The City Council told crooners in Oxford that it is mandatory to smile all the time if they want to keep performing. The Public Space Protection Order aims to tackle anti-social behaviour. 

 

Meanwhile, outraged buskers said the new order will criminalise them. They have been protesting by performing in a deliberately non-compliant way. 

 

Currently, individuals who want to perform are required to get a licence – they don’t have to pay for it but they must agree to abide by the rules that were drawn up about a decade ago. 

 

Jonny Walker, a professional busker who has collected 5,000 signature against the new rule, said: "In most sensible places, everyone understands that as a busker you don't annoy people, you find a patch to play and you aren't too loud.

 

"There's no need for this nonsense. It creates an atmosphere of fear and control.

 

"At a time when public resources are really scarce, you want to use them on issues of public safety, not people playing songs on their guitars."

 

Meanwhile, Council leader Bob Price said: “Point three of the Code of Practice – to smile, enjoy yourself and entertain others – is there to encourage people to regard busking as fun, rather than just as a way to make money.

 

"It is not an element of the Code that would be the subject of enforcement action.”