Brighton and Hove is going to become the first British city to band art that is racist, homophobic, or promotes sectarian violence. The proposal will band all material from music, exhibitions, pubs & clubs.

Artists shown to incite hatred face criminal prosection under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 and the Government’s proposed “gay hatred” law. Councils, however, have no powers to prevent concerts, which is why Brighton and Hove city councillors are expected to include the ban as part of an overhaul of the city’s licensing policy, which expires in January.

“This is not a policy which is to be used to harm freedom of speech, but it will be used in really extreme cases to stop the playing of what’s loosely termed 'murder music'. When Buju Banton was due to play here, we didn’t have any explicit policy in place to stop him from playing; it was only through the goodwill of the venue that the gig was cancelled. We have a large gay and lesbian community in Brighton and Hove and we want to protect people from facing such hatred,” said Dee Simson, who chairs the council’s licensing committee.