Dave Raval

OK so strictly speaking, this is old news. But it came to light again today thanks to a letter by Labour MP Jack Straw.

Labour has created whole libraries of bureaucracy since it came to power. The rules for tax have more than doubled, and there have been thousands of new laws, including 4,200 new criminal offences.

Now some of these have been very good, of course. But others...? Make your own mind up:

• Exploding a nuclear bomb
• Disturbing a pack of eggs when told not to do so by an authorised officer
• Not importing English potatoes if you have reasonable cause to suspect them to be Polish potatoes
• Obstructing workers carrying out repairs to the Docklands Light Railway
• Landing a catch of unsorted fish at a harbour without permission.

I agree with Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne when he said that Many of these offences are worthless, as they duplicate offences which could perfectly well have been used instead. Detonating a nuclear bomb is more commonly known as murder, for example.

There’s a serious point here. These few laws I’ve mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg and, as a result, we’re wasting everyone’s time and causing confusion for police officers and judges. Meanwhile, the big issues like climate change, widening social inequality and sound economic management are being missed. And that really is a tragedy.

Two years ago the fare to take a London bus was 90p (using Oyster pay-as-you-go). But now it is £1.20. With inflation low and unemployment rising, this is a massive kick in the teeth for people who regularly use buses, like myself.

There are two main reasons for the rise. Firstly, Labour's foolish "PPP" system for privatising underground maintenance failed disastrously when Metronet went bust, leaving a black hole of millions of pounds in the transport budget. Secondly, the Conservatives decided to scrap the Congestion Charging Zone for areas like Kensington and Chelsea, therefore they too need to find money from elsewhere.

So the poorer people of London (especially in places like Hackney, where there are no tubes) end up subsidising the £millions we’ve given to fat cat businessmen in Metronet thanks to New Labour, and rich car drivers in Chelsea thanks to the Tories.