Dave Raval

OK so strictly speaking, this is old news. But it came to light again today thanks to a letter by Labour MP Jack Straw.

Labour has created whole libraries of bureaucracy since it came to power. The rules for tax have more than doubled, and there have been thousands of new laws, including 4,200 new criminal offences.

Now some of these have been very good, of course. But others...? Make your own mind up:

• Exploding a nuclear bomb
• Disturbing a pack of eggs when told not to do so by an authorised officer
• Not importing English potatoes if you have reasonable cause to suspect them to be Polish potatoes
• Obstructing workers carrying out repairs to the Docklands Light Railway
• Landing a catch of unsorted fish at a harbour without permission.

I agree with Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne when he said that Many of these offences are worthless, as they duplicate offences which could perfectly well have been used instead. Detonating a nuclear bomb is more commonly known as murder, for example.

There’s a serious point here. These few laws I’ve mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg and, as a result, we’re wasting everyone’s time and causing confusion for police officers and judges. Meanwhile, the big issues like climate change, widening social inequality and sound economic management are being missed. And that really is a tragedy.