Mark , it is not a case of the FRA approving my events or not, or of me agreeing with theirs.

The insurers of the event are the approving authority, they have their own experts whose opinions they seek as to whether the event is safe enough to insure.
My insurers accept my experience and certified ability and it is up to them whether they need to apply the FRAs rules or continue to accept mine.

It is virtually impossible to run a public event without insurance these days, and very foolish of anyone who tries to.

I have no quarrel with FRA using whatever safety rules they like at their events to suit them and their insurers.

However at my event, within the Yeovil Festival of Transport, I run the event to suit my insurers and the YFT organisers.
They are happy to accept that, without any additional input from the FRA or any other organisation.
I am not rejecting the FRA€™s rules, or saying that their experts who drew them up are wrong, I just reserve the right to apply higher standards if I see fit.

Power indicator lights will only be accepted as an optional accessory at my events and play no part in safety.

The YFT is a huge event with hundreds of exhibitors and has been run very successfully for many years by a very experienced team.
They have their own established standards that all exhibitors, me included, have to come up to.

Within the robot fighting sport, we do not need different groups nit-picking at each other€™s rules. That will do us no good at all.
We should accept that, as long our events are properly insured, it is up to the individual expertise of the organisers to run the show properly.