Posted: 1/22/2010 8:12:10 AM EDT
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There was a discussion on Radio 5 on the way home tonight about all the ridiculous laws created by Labour since they came into power, effectvely one for every day they've been in charge. Now, this isn't new news but it does highlight the ridiculousness of this lot, especially when there are already laws covering everything already. Example: Causing or likely to cause a nuclear explosion. That's already covered by murder, criminal damage and causing explosions, which is already an offence. There's another one dealing with disrupting workmen on the Docklands Light Railway  . This is already covered under the railways act.Anyhow, it turns out that when Blair was in charge, his crony's created an average of 27 new laws per month, but Brown's lot have surpassed that with 33 per month. Having a quick Google, I found this link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052636/Labours-3-600-new-ways-making-criminal.html Labour's 3,600 new ways of making you a criminal  Punishment: Labour has found 3,600 new ways of making you a criminal Ever tried selling a grey squirrel, impersonating a traffic warden, importing Polish potatoes or disturbing a pack of eggs without permission? If you do, you will be breaking the law. These are among the 3,605 new criminal offences created by the Labour Government since it won power in 1997 - almost one for every day it has been in office. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne has described the plethora of new laws as 'legislative diarrhoea'. The new offences are made up of 1,238 which were brought in as primary legislation - meaning they were debated in Parliament - and 2,367 by secondary legislation, such as orders in council and statutory instruments. Under Tony Blair, Labour introduced 160 new offences in its first year, but in 2003, 493 offences were created. Offences brought in during the past five years include:
It has slowed slightly in the past two years with 288 new offences in 2007 and 148 so far this year. Mr Huhne said: 'In what conceivable way can the introduction of a new criminal offence every day help tackle crime when most crimes that people care about have been illegal for years.  No pretenders: Comic Jocelyn Jee Esien played a traffic warden in her TV programme, but if you try impersonating one, you will be breaking the law 'This legislative diarrhoea is not about making us safer, because it does not help enforce the laws that we have one jot. It is about the Government's posturing on punishments.' The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has proved the most prolific law creators, introducing some 852 new offences. Meanwhile the Home Office has been responsible for 455 new offences. Mr Huhne said minor criminals should be kept out of jail to allow the Home Office to redirect funding from prisons to the police. It is the fear of being caught - and not the severity of punishment after conviction - which deters people from committing crime, he said outlining the Lib Dem's vision for policing and criminal justice. Mr Huhne - whose party is already committed to funding 10,000 more police by scrapping ID cards - said: 'We rely on prison far too much. 'First, reoffending is appallingly high, as prisons are colleges of crime. Secondly, the chances of being caught are still far too low, as only one in 100 crimes leads to a conviction. 'We do not need to increase the severity of punishments, but we do need to increase the chances of being caught. Catching criminals works better than posturing about penalties.' Some more offences introduced in the past five years: To wilfully pretend to be a barrister (A provision of the Legal Services Act 2007 aimed at modernising the legal profession and increasing competition between barristers). (Part of a detailed set of regulations last year controlling the production and marketing of eggs). Obstruct workers carrying out repairs to the Dockland Light Railway (The offence is created under legislation designed to boost capacity on the DLR in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics in London).  Breaking the law: Don't even think selling a grey squirrel Attach an ear tag to an animal when it has previously been used to identify another animal (A regulation introduced last year to tighten up identification of cattle). Land a catch at a harbour that includes unsorted fish without permission (Regulations two years ago controlling fish taken from seas around Britain). Fail to use an approved technique for weighing herring, mackerel and horse mackerel (Banned under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006). Allow an unlicensed concert in a church hall or community centre (The 2003 Licensing Act introduced a maximum penalty of six months' prison for breaking the law). F**kin' idiots |
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It is amazingly ridiculous and there are even worse things to have come from this (try googling R v Chambers [2008]) but on the other hand... the UK now has an obligation to pass legislation that enacts EU law. It may well be that many of these offences fall under that category.
Nah. Let's be honest, it's because they're barstewards. |
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"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill I like his other "qoute" Seated with some posh bint at a banquet - asks her if she would sleep with him for one million pounds. She replied that she might. He then asked if she would do it for one pound. "Mr Churchill, what sort of woman do you think I am" she exclaimed. He replied "We have already established what sort of woman you are. We are now working out a price" 
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I feel for you all over there. We get snippets of some of the stupid laws that get proposed on your side of the pond. We have our share of idiot politicians over here too. Like this one for example  Hopefully you can vote your useless politicians out of office. Were doing our best to make ours unemployed. Take Care ZM |
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Have any of them ever been exercised..? Well I'm sure Bin Laden is having pause for thought in his cave… "Your blueness, we've got a nuke, we can blow up the infidels in London' 'No good my my loyal battyboi' 'Why so your blueness' 'The infidel British Home Secretary will not issue me a license to detonate it' |
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What the fuck does this mean? Disturb a pack of eggs when instructed not to by an authorised officer Can you get nicked for checking to see if any are cracked in a supermarket? I wondered about this one..........I didn't even realise eggs hunted in packs..........
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Quoted: How often do the batteries need changing? Quoted: I think the "pack of eggs" thing might refer to protected species nesting in the wild rather than in the supermarket.... It's to do with the inspectors when they are checking out the egg batteries. It was explained on the radio the other day  |
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Quoted: Quoted: How often do the batteries need changing? Quoted: I think the "pack of eggs" thing might refer to protected species nesting in the wild rather than in the supermarket.... It's to do with the inspectors when they are checking out the egg batteries. It was explained on the radio the other day  |
| I read something last year about some vegetable seller in Gloucestershire or some such place who got arrested for selling bananas by the pound instead of by the kilo. Why should the government care which unit of measure the poor sod uses? As long as his scale is accurate, the customer is getting what he pays for. How soon will it be before you have to ask the barkeep for a half-liter instead of a pint? |
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I read something last year about some vegetable seller in Gloucestershire or some such place who got arrested for selling bananas by the pound instead of by the kilo. Why should the government care which unit of measure the poor sod uses? As long as his scale is accurate, the customer is getting what he pays for. How soon will it be before you have to ask the barkeep for a half-liter instead of a pint? Don't sweat it… My local city council put up distance signs to all the tourist hot spots in meters a few years ago and had to take them down as it was illegal to use metres on distance signs in the UK. |