Labour campaigns against full nudity strip clubs

Labour in Brighton and Hove has renewed its campaign against "full-nudity" strip clubs in the city.

Labour group leader Councillor Gill Mitchell said:

"Strip clubs with totally nude female dancers are not welcome in our city. Too often these kind of clubs can involve women who are trafficked from eastern Europe and exploited in the sex trade, and we want to draw a line as to what is acceptable here before these clubs become the norm."

Before the May election, the Labour council pledged to sponsor a private bill in Parliament to ban the clubs after magistrates granted a licence to the first earlier this year. The new Conservative administration, however, has tried to pull back from this pledge on the grounds of cost.

Now the Tories are merely proposing that the council engages in lobbying activity, with any decisions being deferred. This will mean that vital time is lost: it's likely that other full-nudity clubs could open in the city while we wait.

Gill Mitchell said:

"This is an issue of great concern to local people and for the Tories to be backing down like this shows regrettable complacency".