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Bad Laws: An Explosive Analysis of Britain's Petty Rules, Health and Safety
Lunacies and Madcap Laws by Philip Johnston: review

Ben Wilson is liberated by Bad Laws, Philip Johnston's account of the
ridiculous licencising acts that have tied up spontaneous acts of fun with red
tape

By Ben Wilson 6:00AM BST 13 Apr 2010

Comments

E P Thompson once wrote of “a very ancient tradition in Britain of
bloody-mindedness towards the intrusion of authority”. Permissions, permits and
licenses were things that cursed those who had the misfortune to be born
elsewhere. Compare this with the experiences of Clive Fairweather. For the past
four decades playing “Old Fairweather”, a farm labourer, he has entertained
festivals with tales from British history. This he did without trouble until
2005 when the Licensing Act required him to fill out six forms and pay £21. As
he told Philip Johnston: “There will be no alcohol, no amplification, no
subversion of the state, no threat to public order. But for the first time in 40
years, I was obliged to buy a licence – at a time when the Government is urging
us to celebrate our Britishness, to rediscover our national stories.”

Part of me hopes Old Fairweather subverts the state by recounting those parts
of our history that celebrate revolting peasants, defiant Roundheads,
disobedient Whigs or any other of Thompson’s “bloody-minded” Britons. At a time
when politicians have a weak grasp on history, and when the subject takes a back
seat in the curriculum, it might count as a revolutionary act. Recent licensing
acts have had an impact on cultural life. Village hall events, school plays,
travelling circuses, pub musicians and other types of spontaneous fun have been
tied up in red tape. As Johnston writes of the present Government: “It evinced a
predisposition to micromanage individual behaviour and ride roughshod over
liberties, both of which are very non-British traits.”

Johnston describes the torrent of legislation that has poured forth. It would
make depressing reading were it not for the author’s wit and passion. The
ill-thought-through meddlesome rules have limited free speech, the right to
protest and other essential civil liberties.

Bad Laws is a call to arms that shows how poorly drafted bills have
been hustled through parliament with unseemly haste. Many anti-terror laws and
criminal justice measures have been passed to “send a message”. Others have been
a crude form of social engineering.

The knee-jerk response might be to damn government in all its forms. That
would be dangerous. As Johnston argues, we need a fundamental change in our
political culture. In recent weeks, a parliamentary committee has recommended a
review of anti-terror laws. For Johnston that would be the first step in a much
deeper process. A political party which promised that would do very well. But it
would take political courage. So don’t hold your breath.

* Ben Wilson is the author of What Price Liberty?: How Freedom Was Won and
Is Being Lost (Faber, £9.99)

Bad
Laws: an Explosive Analysis of Britain’s Petty Rules, Health and Safety
Lunacies and Madcap Laws

by Philip Johnston

288pp, Constable, £8.99

Buy now for £8.99 (PLUS 99p p&p) 0844 871 1514 or from Telegraph
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/7568525/Bad-Laws-An-Explosive-Analysis-of-Britains-Petty-Rules-Health-and-Safety-Lunacies-and-Madcap-Laws-by-Philip-Johnston-review.html