Tell us about the good and bad of officaldom (From Swindon Advertiser)

Tell us about the good and bad of officaldom

3:10pm Thursday 7th June 2012 in Letters

I would appreciate the opportunity to let your readers know about a new opportunity for community volunteers who find that regulators and rule enforcers are making their lives difficult.

The Volunteer Events theme on the Focus On Enforcement website presents a golden opportunity for ordinary people to speak out against uncaring officialdom, but also to give credit where credit is due if someone has been really helpful.

Volunteers are the unsung heroes of our communities. But dealing with the way rules are enforced can sometimes be more of a problem than the red tape itself – no one volunteers to be a bureaucrat.

The Government wants anyone involved in volunteering – from a jumble sale, to organising a street party, to a three-peaks challenge – to feed in their experiences, good and bad, of dealing with local authorities and other regulators as part of the Focus On Enforcement campaign.

Whether it’s an inspection by someone who won’t listen or having to fill in the same form twice – we want to hear about it.

We know there are good regulators out there, so we also want you to tell us on the website about the heroes – people who give really good guidance and help your event to happen well and safely.

So I urge you to go to the Focus On Enforcement website and let us know your views so that we can take action. This is your chance to make a difference to the way regulations are enforced.

Focus on Enforcement/Volunteer Events: http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/focusonenforcement/your-experiences-of-dealing-with-regulators/#vol Mark Prisk Business and Enterprise Minister

Why do we pay?

Did you witness the arrival and departure of Tony Blair at the Leveson Inquiry?

The convey of cars screeched to a halt. Dark sunglassed security men leapt out as the convoy slowed down. The car door swung open and out popped the president himself! Blair searched in vain for a red carpet.

A quick wave and smile at the public and he enters the building.

Later, out he pops.

His guards speak into their mouthpieces.

He has the look of a man who thinks he’s being directed by Clint Eastward himself in a movie about a president.

His blacked out Range Rover pulls up. A security man opens the door, looking left and right, while others, speaking into their mouthpieces, scan the roof tops.

Blair pauses and smiles at the public with his cheesy big grin. No response. Then boos and shouts of “War Criminal!” explode from the public sector.

His grin shrinks to a worried look. What's he thinking? Ungrateful plebs? He steps into the vehicle, a screech of tyres and he's gone, a convoy of security men in tow.

Why should the taxpayer foot the bill for his travelling circus? Blair is now a tycoon.

J Adams Bloomsbury, Swindon