There has been a lot of talk in the last few days about regulations following the dreadful Grenfell tower block fire in Kensington. Everyone is now rushing to go through the Building Regulations to see how and why such a catastrophe was allowed to happen. Many are drawing comparison between the regulations that the Brexiteers want to get rid of and those that keep us safe. Brexiteers often seem to want to get rid of all sorts of regulations regardless of their public good.
John Longworth is one of them. He sat on one of Margaret Thatcher's Deregulation initiative where they tried to get rid of red tape - what he would call unnecessary red tape - and in March this year, in a newspaper article (HERE) said:
"Having experienced previous deregulation initiatives, starting from when I sat on Mrs Thatcher’s Deregulation Task Force, there will need to be a real determination on the part of the Government to push through meaningful change.
"Regulations, however burdensome, always have their fans, because there are always those who gain wealth or employment from them. This often includes large corporations – multinationals which have compliance departments and can both game the system and put up barriers to competition to their own advantage, but to the detriment of the nation. It also includes Whitehall, where regulation is bread and butter and the Sir Humphreys are adept at delay and obfuscation in their own interests".
To people like Longworth economics trumps everything and any attempt to create a better, safer world with real social justice is a "barrier to competition". Regulations are intended not as a barrier but as a means of ensuring fair competition, setting minimum standards so we do not try to save a few pounds on a £10m refurbishment by fitting flammable external cladding when fire resistant ones were available.
Grenfell should silence them for a very long time.
