Councillor welcomes law scrap scheme

Councillor Greg Couzens has welcomed the scheme and would like people to get involved

A Rochdale councillor has welcomed a new government initiative to scrap unpopular laws and is urging people to get involved with the debate.

Councillor Greg Couzens has given the thumbs up to the ‘Your Freedom’ initiative which was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today (Thursday 1 July 2010).

The ‘Your Freedom’ website aims to give the public a chance to say which laws they think the coalition government should get rid of.

Nick Clegg has described the plan as an ‘unprecedented step’ to see ‘freedom restored.’
Councillor Couzens said: “I welcome this whole process. We need to review things and get rid of all the red tape and political correctness.

“I would certainly encourage the people of Rochdale to get involved and encourage them to open up the debate.”

In his report, Nick Clegg said: “We are calling for your ideas on how to protect our hard-won liberties and repeal unnecessary laws. And we want to know how best to scale back excessive regulation that denies businesses the space to innovate.

“We’re hoping for virtual mailbags full of suggestions. Every single one will be read, with the best put to Parliament.

The Deputy Prime Minister has asked people to concentrate on the following three areas:

• Laws that have eroded civil liberties.

• Regulations that stifle the way charities and businesses work.

• Laws that are not required and which are likely to see law-abiding citizens criminalised.

The ideas will be logged through the website and the public will be able to comment and rate those which they believe should be considered by the Government.

Eventually assessments will be made on which laws should be scrapped.

They will be revealed in a new Freedom Bill in August.

http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/