It's time to squirrel away these ridiculous laws
Richard Benyon MP • Published 8 Jul 2010 16:00
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It is with some concern that I have found I have been breaking the law. Apparently there is a law that requires you to report a grey squirrel every time you see one in your garden.
I am not sure who you should report that to; the minister with responsibility for wildlife pests perhaps? Hang on, that's me.
Now I have been in post for eight weeks and no one has reported seeing any squirrels so, given that there must be several million grey squirrels in Britain, this must mean lawlessness and sedition on an unprecedented scale. Something must be done. Well it is, in fact. The Coalition Government is organising a bonfire of all the pointless rules and laws which serve no purpose or, because of their petty-fogging banality, just hack us off. The purpose of the law is to protect and empower citizens. That is the only time the state ever has the right to restrict our behaviour. As Nick Clegg said: "As soon as we forget that we open the door to state intrusion. We lose that knee-jerk indignation we should all feel when the state sticks its nose in where it doesn't belong."
The Government has even set up a website for people to contribute their own ideas for rules and laws and rules which are worthless intrusions into our lives.
So many people have contributed that the website has crashed. My worry is that some of us have become conditioned to the state's overbearing control.
For example, no one ever seems to complain when our intelligence is insulted by someone reading out the fire policy before a meeting - even if there is only one door in or out of the building.
In the spirit of deregulation, I attended my first Cabinet Committee last week. This is where the nitty-gritty of Government takes place. We met in the Cabinet Office with the sounds of the Cameron children playing in the No 10 garden.
Under the chairmanship of Vince Cable we plotted a path to a more meaningful culture of regulation for businesses, voluntary organisations and individuals.
=== Maurice O'Brien is away ===
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