No bay windows and mental stimulation for cats....

Ross Clark, the author of -How to Label a Goat: the silly rules and regulations that are strangling Britain, -points out the following regulatory facts and figures in today's Times (09 Nov):

• the annual cost to business of regulations introduced since 1997 is 50.27 billion (according to the BCC);
• health and safety officials claiming a bay window is unacceptable in an accountancy firm's office
• fork-lift drivers having to renew their licence every 3 years costing the company £250 each time;
• only a small proportion of legislation is ever debated in Parliament - the 29 Acts of Parliament (entailing 3,592 statutory instruments) that became law in the 12 months to May 31 this year were introduced without reference to Parliament;
• Gambling bill imposes a maximum value of £5 on soft toys given as fairground prizes

The Telegraph reports on more "amazing" Whitehall proposals: a guide to pet owners to provide private lavatories for their cats and "mental stimulation" to prevent them getting bored. The Defra's code of conduct for cat owners has been scrapped but it leaves one to wonder why propose something like that in the first place and why spend time time on writing up a 17-page guide no one would ever take seriously?!?