I spent all evening perusing this ledger of legislation. It’s hard, dry reading but gradually it grew on me. Here in this litany of laws designed to improve citizens’ lives is the record of human endeavours to live well together, not to cheat each other, to trust the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. The smog before the Clean Air Act gave me constant bronchitis as a young child. Bathing water regulations make swimming a pleasure. Flood water management holds back the worst for millions of homes. The Rent (Agriculture) Act gives security to farm tenants. The 1936 Public Health Act makes councils provide mortuaries – or shall we use Tesco’s freezers?
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Polly Toynbee, “So-called localism will undo years of human endeavour”, The Guardian, 19 March 2011, p. 47
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/19/localism-undo-human-endeavour-eric-pickles
