Light UK regulation – Mowlam
3 November 2000
‘Light’ UK regulation – Mowlam
By FWi staff
THE UK is relatively lightly regulated compared with other countries in the world, cabinet minister Mo Mowlam has claimed.
Responding to recent criticisms by business organisations of regulation, Dr Mowlam said several surveys had dispelled the myth that the UK is heavily regulated.
She also denied that the current government was more prone to legislate than previous administrations.
“If you look at the number of Acts of Parliaments and statutory instruments issued each parliamentary session, they are broadly the same order of magnitude,” she said.
But a spokeswoman from the NFU said Dr Mowlams message did not tie in with what members of the union were saying.
“They tell us they have become overwhelmed by the red tape and regulation they have to deal with,” she said.
Nor was it supported by the findings of the red tape reviews set up by MAFF at the NFUs request last year, she said.
The three working groups made 107 recommendations, 98 of which the government accepted outright.
“This demonstrated that red tape and regulation was clearly an issue for farming,” she said.