3605 New offences in 11 years: New Labour fuckwittery.

The Government has created more than 3,600 new criminal offences since it won power 11 years ago – almost one for every day it has been in office.

Critics blamed the frenzy of law-making on "posturing" by an administration keen to win easy headlines and addicted to pushing complicated legislation through Parliament.

Such as:

In the past two years alone, it has become a criminal offence to disturb a pack of eggs without permission and to sell either a game bird killed on a Sunday or a piece of Japanese knotweed.

A total of 3,605 offences have reached the statute book since May 1997, an average of about 320 a year. They comprise 1,238 brought in as primary legislation, which means they were debated in Parliament, and 2,367 by secondary legislation, such as orders in council and statutory instruments.

The tally will be announced today by Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, as he sets out a fresh initiative to cut crime. Mr Huhne said: "In what conceivable way can the introduction of a new criminal offence every day help tackle crime when most crimes that people care about have been illegal for years.

"This legislative diarrhoea is not about making us safer, because it does not help enforce the laws that we have one jot. It is about the Government's posturing on punishments."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been the most hyperactive branch of Whitehall, creating 852 new offences.

It is followed by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and its predecessor the Department for Trade and Industry, which between them have created 678 offences.

The Home Office, which has presided over a succession of criminal justice Bills, is responsible for 455 offences.

Here are some more of our more bizarre laws:

Creating a nuclear explosion was outlawed in 1998 and it is now illegal to sell grey squirrels and impersonate a traffic warden or barrister. A ship's captain could end up in court if he or she carries grain without a copy of the International Grain Code on board.

Also

To wilfully pretend to be a barrister. Disturb a pack of eggs when instructed not to by an authorised officer. Obstruct workers carrying out repairs to the Dockland Light Railway. Offer for sale a game bird killed on a Sunday or Christmas Day. Attach an ear tag to an animal when it has previously been used to identify another animal. Land a catch at a harbour that includes unsorted fish without permission. Fail to use an approved "pelagic" system for weighing herring, mackerel and horse mackerel. Sell types of flora and fauna not native to the UK, such as the grey squirrel, ruddy duck or Japanese knotweed. Allow an unlicensed concert in a church hall or community centre...

The Government argues that many of the laws it inherited were archaic and needed updating. It says modern legislation is essential for tackling crime and antisocial behaviour effectively.

The government is talking out of its arse.
Gordon Brown a man who makes me so angry I could punch his lights out

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