---

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

The episode outside the Palace of Westminster in Parliament Square seems quite relevant to this. There is a regulation—I believe it is a health and safety regulation—which states that policemen must not climb higher than six feet. The other day a van arrived to assist in the removal by the Metropolitan Police, after some delay, of the gentleman who had been living there for quite a long time. A couple of protestors climbed on to the police vehicle, which was eight feet high. So the whole operation had to be suspended for two hours or so while a special mountain section of the police was summoned to remove the two individuals who were reclining—immune from interference—on this eight-foot high vehicle. That is quite a good example of the sort of regulation which should be removed. On the other hand, I can quite see that immediately anyone tried to remove that regulation—if any Minister dared to do so—all the forces of darkness would be summoned up to defend it. They would say, of course, that any time now a policeman will fall off an eight-foot high vehicle and if we change this regulation we will have bricks flying all over us. I think my noble friend’s amendment is extremely sensible.