Oh please, can I please move to Britain? I just love their sense of civil liberty. And I do so want the bobbies to know that they’re always welcome in my home, at any hour of the day or night, for pretty much any of a thousand trivial reasons:
The march of the Big Brother state under Labour was highlighted last night as it was revealed that there are now 1,043 laws that give the authorities the power to enter a home or business.
Nearly half have been introduced since Labour came to power 11 years ago.
These laws include things like checking to see that your plants have a “plant passport”, that your hedge isn’t too high, to investigate whether illegal gambling is happening, to seize your refrigerator if it doesn’t have the correct energy rating, to search for “undeclared carbon dioxide” (no, I didn’t make that up), etc. It’s the nanny state in full flower.
Some 420 new powers of entry are the product of laws introduced since 1997. A further 16 are in laws due to be approved by Parliament in the next few weeks.
A recent study by the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank warned that the ‘proliferation and variety’ of such laws mean householders can no longer ‘realistically be aware’ of their rights and legal obligations.
No kidding. Is it legal for my bed to be 1 meter off the floor? Or is the limit 90 centimeters? How much milk am I allowed to have in the house at one time? How often must I wash my sheets and towels? Is there a limit to the number of chairs I can have? Are my sox too long, or too short? Are my kitchen knives too sharp, too long or too pointy? Is my toothpaste an approved brand? Is it legal for the tube to be squeezed from the middle? These are important matters that the government really must address.
Householders can be fined up to £5,000 if they refuse entry or ‘obstruct’ an official.
In case you aren’t wired into British politics, the Labour Party is the LEFT leaning party in Britain. WAY left. Left of the left lane they drive in. And definitely gonna be “left behind”… or at least they ought to be “left behind”… by the electorate, that is.
July 27th, 2008 5:17 pm
This is nothing new for the Brits. That’s why we have protection from
unlawful search and seizure and protection from the quartering of troops
in our humble homes here in the U.S. Seems King George loved this kind of
stuff and yes, there still is a monarchy. Thank God we got rid of them.
Although Barak Hussein “Citizen of the World” Obama may just be our new
monarch. Liberalism at its best.