The Art of Queuing

Nice piece by Dizzy (even though he is a Tory).

The historical bargain here in hte UK was that there weren´t going to be many laws and those that we did have were important. So we all thought it important that we obeyed those laws that we did have.

The continental bargain was somewhat different. There would be many laws, the entirety of society would be bound by rules and regulations. But as a societal matter, most of them were ignored. To be a scofflaw was not just something necessary to get anything done but even a badge of pride.

It´s in part the clash of these two methods which so enrages about the EU. We have the imposition of these incredibly prescriptive laws (for example, the allowable ingredients of jam are now described in the criminal law….yes, the criminal law) but we also have this residual feeling that all laws are important and that all laws must be obeyed.

This isn´t a position that can be maintained. Only one of the two poles can: few laws and they´re obeyed or many laws and many are ignored.