Red tape is there to keep us all safe
ONE constant refrain from the loony right of British politics is the need to cut down on “red tape”.
It was one of the main themes pushed by Brexiteers in the EU referendum.
They told us that once we leave Europe, our private sector will be freed from the constraints of overwheening bureaucracy.
Brexit Britain, they promised, would see an end to the nanny state of Brussels – with its daft rules and regulations.
Lots of people fell for it. After all, who wants some well-paid bureaucrat telling you how bendy your banana should be?
But what we rarely hear from Tories is that lots of European and homegrown regulation is vital to our everyday lives.
Health and safety rules might be a nuisance for big business – and get in the way of them raking in massive profits – but we need these rules in our workplaces and homes.
The Grenfell Tower block disaster is surely the most harrowing example yet of what happens when public sector cuts kick in and regulation is watered down or ignored.
You end up with a burning child being thrown by her desperate parents from a fire-ravaged inner-city tower block. Or you see heart-breaking online videos posted by poor souls 23 stories up Grenfell Tower, detailing their own impending deaths as they send messages to loved ones.
Today in the Daily Record, we tell how the Tories have engaged in a war against “red tape” and “health and safety” for years.
In fact, all the top Tories we looked at have been quoted hitting out against red tape or regulations that help keep us safe.
They should just be honest – they hate red tape because it costs big business a lot of money. That’s their main concern. The lives of those who are protected by health and safety laws mean little to them.
Sadly, the screams of those condemned to die in Grenfell Tower will not haunt their nightmares.
But let us hope this most appalling tragedy has taught the Tories one important lesson.
That the lives of ordinary human beings are worth much, much more than their rich chums’ fat bank accounts.