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Music

London Mayor Sadiq Khan Opens Up About Fabric and London Nightlife in New Interview

An an interview with Time Out, Khan says "we can't carry on this way," and discusses new legislative measures.

In a video interview published earlier today by Time Out, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has pledged that keeping nightclubs and other nightlife venues open is a primary concern of his. "I don't want Fabric closing down," he says, adding that, "I don't want other clubs closing down. I don't want other live music venues closing down."

Though the Mayor might not have any direct say over the decision that Islington Council will be making on September the 6 following two recent drug related deaths ("Certain people have been given the impression that it's me pulling the levers with Fabric. And it isn't. It's a local authority issue.") he seems keen to do whatever he can—within his jurisdiction, of course—to help ensure that nightlife can still thrive in a city where venues seem to be closing with alarming regularity. "One of my jobs as the mayor is to create an environment where the clubs and live music venues flourish and thrive, but also an environment where new music venues, new live venues, new clubs, can open."

Closing Fabric Would be the Biggest Political Threat to UK Nightlife Since the Early 90s

Khan, who has been to Fabric and thinks of it as, "a great place to go" and a "great night out," goes on to discuss the important issue of planning laws, stating that, "What we're going to do is make it much harder to change use. To protect the heritage." The mayor believes that those who chose to develop housing near to clubs and music venues will have to adopt an Australian "agent of change" system which would see developers having to pay for noise insulation rather than the venues themselves.

Watch the interview in full below.