For instance....
- To see if pot plants have plant pests or do not have a `plant passport' (Plant Health Order 2005).
- To check the energy ratings on refrigerators (Energy Information Household Refrigerators and Freezers Regulations 2004).
- Surveying the home and garden to see if hedges are too high (Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003).
- Inspecting a property to ensure illegal or unregulated hypnotism is not taking place (Hypnotism Act 1952)
Spying on the public seems to be an obsession with public officials these days, what with the RIPA act where councils have used provisions to spy on recycling bin filling or on school catchment area applications. ID cards, cctv even the height of your hedges. Registered snoopers are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is legal and occasionally what isn't.
It's reckoned that every council has about 47 people who can simply stroll into your house without your permission. 2 years ago Gordon Brown pledged to review the power of councils to enter people’s homes without warrant. Never happened of course, it rarely does with this sort of legislation. The Tories have also made vague promises too, but nothing has been written down yet.
Alex Deane, Director of Big Brother Watch, said:
“Once, a man’s home was his castle. Today the Big Brother state wants to inspect, regulate and standardise the inside of our homes.He's right, we aren't the ones who need watching, it's those who think they have a right to watch us who need pruning back and kept an eye on.
"Councils are dishing out powers of entry to officers within their council for their own ease, without giving due thought to the public’s right to privacy and the potential for abuse.
"There needs to be a much closer eye kept on the number of officers granted the right to barge into private premises without a warrant.”
4 annotations:
I dn't know if we have these laws in Scotland. I've never heard of them, but I suppose we could still have them.
I imagine though that you could make it very unpleasant for the council official.... if you knew in advance that he was coming.
72% of all accidents happen in the home.
It's all part of Agenda 21 - the UN's blueprint for world government.
Anyone who scoffs at the UN having an agenda which is contrary to the health and well-being of the world's populace, should read Agenda 21 - on the UN's own site.
We need to mobilise - or suffer the fate they have in store for us.
I fully agree with everything you say. I've just started blogging and my today's effort was on the very same subject albeit with a different approach. You beat me by an hour!
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