Wednesday 7 March 2012

Insidious legislation

ScotsSubrosa posts on what she terms an insidious piece of legislation which is being imposed by the Scottish Parliament. Whereas previously any event to which the public were admitted and where entry was free required no licence, now the Scottish government's Criminal Justice and Licencing (Scotland) Act 2010 - which comes into force on 1 April requires a licence for any event, be it free or paid admittance.

In England another piece of insidious legislation is the Workplace Parking Levy (England) Regulations 2009 which came into force on 1 October 2009. Much was made by the Coalition about the intended actions of some councils to impose them, with the BBC reporting that a spokesman for Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said they should look at other kinds of charges instead. One would have thought that if Pickles found such a charge invidious then why not revoke the legislation - yet as late as December 2011 the Department of Transport published a document in which it is stated:
"Local Authorities will now have to ensure business interests are properly considered as part of any future proposed Workplace Parking Levy scheme. They must show they have properly and effectively consulted local businesses, have addressed any proper concerns raised and secured support from the local business community."
What both these examples of insidious legislation show is that the sooner the public learn about the benefits of direct democracy and 'referism', the better their lives, the greater their freedom. Sadly for the people of the UK, loss of sovereignty and the resultant loss of freedom seem not to be a cause for concern, yet that is what is happening to us under our system of representative democracy - aka, elected dictatorship or democratised dictatorship (either term is correct). What Salmond is imposing on Scotland is exactly what Cameron is imposing on the remainder of the UK because, unfettered by the people's disinterest in what is being done in their name, that is what men do: seek and usurp power - and once power is gained, it is never relinquished without much bloodshed.


Just saying.......................

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