As well as the increase in violent crime and overcrowded prisons, The UK has seen a systematic increase in the number of activities now deemed to be illegal, meaning that more and more of us are becoming criminals. In the nine years between his election in May 1997 and August 2006, the Labour government introduced a total of 3023 offences including fox hunting, the sale of meat on the bone and the use of mobile phones while driving. As the Telegraph pointed out in an article on 2006 (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1219484.ece), legislated offences include: “It is now illegal to sell grey squirrels, impersonate a traffic warden or offer Air Traffic Control services without a licence. Creating a nuclear explosion was outlawed in 1998. Householders who fail to nominate a neighbour to turn off their alarm while they are away from home can be breaking the law. And it is an offence for a ship's captain to be carrying grain unless he has a copy of the International Grain Code on board.”
One can’t help but wonder what positive results such laws really bring to the average voter back in the real world.
Worryingly, of the 3023 newly-created offences, only 1169 were debated in Parliament and introduced by primary legislature. (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1219484.ece
This means that 1854 criminal offences have been introduced to the UK without being first debated in Parliament, bypassing the entire process of democracy and representation. The 1169 laws that were debated in Parliament more than doubles the amount introduced by the Tories under their last nine years in office under both Thatcher and Major, who between them introduced roughly 500 offences through primary legislature.
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