THE heroes of Britpop are getting back together for some sell-out summer shows – but the legislation they inspired is about to die.

Hyde Park will soon hum to the sound of Blur, while Oasis are still winning awards, more than a decade after their glory years and legendary chart battle.

But few have noticed that laws introduced specifically to help the next generation of talent achieve success and fill the boots of the Britpop bands are being quietly scrapped.

To understand the fascinating birth of the “New Deal for Musicians”, we must cast our minds back to the remarkable alliance between Tony Blair and a bunch of scruffy Indie music kids, in what was dubbed “Cool Britannia”.

It seems extraordinary now – after Iraq, after sleaze, after boom turned to bust – but the euphoria that swept Mr Blair into No.10 was, briefly, shared by Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Co. As they also topped the charts, ministers had to listen when the music business howled that forcing under-25s to take up a job or training place after six months on the dole spelt disaster for wannabe pop bands.

How could poor youngsters fine-tune their talent in bedsits if required to waste time flipping burgers at McDonalds, as the New Deal programme threatened?

Britpop had funded New Labour – and now it was payback time. Under the New Deal for Musicians, claimants could stay on the dole for 13 months, provided they displayed “talent and commitment”.

The Tories condemned a “charter for scroungers”, but the scheme has survived for 11 years. The Britpop law far outlasted Britpop.

Furthermore, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has an impressive list of artists propelled to success – James Morrison, Toploader, Starsailor and, believe it or not, Pete Doherty.

A study found that one in six participants found work in the music business – an impressive hit rate – but that was in 2001, with no research carried out since.

Meanwhile, the political parties are once again competing to be toughest on welfare and public attitudes have hardened towards those who claim benefits – musicians, or not.

So, come October, the New Deal for Musicians will be swallowed up in the so-called “Flexible New Deal” – yet another, even harsher crackdown on the workshy. And there will be no more rock-and-dole.

* I DON’T think tourism minister Barbara Follett meant to insult Liverpool, so maybe the words didn’t come out quite as intended.

She told MPs: “Many of us did not easily put Liverpool and the title ‘European City of Culture’ together . . .”