UK festivals threaten government with legal action over drug testing U-turn
Sacha Lord, the founder of Manchester’s Parklife festival, has written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman calling out the government’s recent U-turn on drug testing.
Last month, the UK government were accused by several UK festivals of putting attendees at risk after making cuts to the development of drugs-testing sites.
Parklife festival was unable to set up its usual drugs testing facility, The Loop, for the first time in nine years due to licensing issues. This meant that they couldn't send out their normal alerts to festival-goers warning them of potentially dangerous substances in circulation on site.
Bristol’s Night Time Economy Advisor Carly Heath criticised the government's actions, saying: “At the start of festival season, Home Office asks for all drugs checking to now apply for licence, which takes 3 months, is cost prohibitive & requires perm building (not an on-site tent?) Effectively. The home office just banned life-saving drug checking.
Both Lord and the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) have instructed their legal teams to request for a judicial review in response to the Home Office’s actions.
The letter sent to Braverman demanded that the June 8 decision be immediately reversed and the previously agreed arrangement for drug testing be restarted. It states that the Home Office “is well aware that on site drug testing has been taking place at festivals across the country since 2014.”
Legal action has been threatened if the government fails to provide a response by July 7.
Lord highlighted that on-site testing "has saved lives and the absence of it puts lives at risk.”
He added: “The Home Office must put an end to this reckless disregard for the safety of festival goers and reinstate the existing Memorandum of Understanding with immediate effect. The industry works tirelessly to ensure we do everything possible to safeguard the public.
"If the Home Office continues not to support us in this vital work we will be left with no other choice but to call for a full investigation and consultation.”
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