As many of our readers who are fans of senior music may well be aware, at the weekend the sound at Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney's Hyde Park gig was switched off mid-song, prompting Sil from The Sopranos (who recovered from being shot to play in the E Street Band) to brand Britain a "police state". Organisers Live Nation blamed customary whipping boys 'elf n'safety. However, Health & Safety Deputy Chief Executive Kevin Myers pooh-poohed this allegation in a statement posted online.

"As a longstanding Bruce Springsteen fan and one of the crowd at Hard Rock Calling, I was doubly disappointed to hear Live Nation give 'health and safety' as the reason for cutting short Saturday's gig," Myers wrote. "The fans deserve the truth: there are no health and safety issues involved here. While public events may have licensing conditions dictating when they should end, this is not health and safety and it is disingenuous of Live Nation to say so.

Myers also added that Springsteen knew a thing or two about Health & Safety: "It's ironic that this excuse has been used in relation to Bruce Springsteen, who certainly knows what real health and safety is all about - look at the words of 'Factory' from Darkness on the Edge of Town referring to the toll that factory work can take on the health of blue collar workers."