Boy Those British Love Their Unwelcome Visitors!

Brits: Big Brother Has 266 Different Ways to Enter Your Home!
If you live in the United Kingdom, apparently there are 266 separate laws which allow government officials to enter your home or business. These officials can barge in often without a warrant, and demand to inspect your property, according to a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies. Apart from what's expected - permitting inspections for those suspected of manufacturing or producing biological weapons, for instance - there's also the unexpected. For instance, officials can enter your home to insure your adherence to legislation as diverse as the Haiti (United Nations Sanctions) Order, the Hops Certification Regulations, and the Hypnotism Act. (And that's just a few in the "H" category.) Whatever happened to the common law rule that, "an Englishman's home is his castle?" Well, that rule still applies, sort of. Except that there are more and more e! xceptions. In 1970, according to the report, there were "only" 81 ways in which officials could invade your "castle." By 1980, that number had grown to 112. By 1990, it was 174, and by 2000, 241. So far this century Parliament has granted various government authorities 25 more ways to enter your home, for a grand total of 266. Thinking of resisting entry? Don't do it...you might be fined up to 5,000 and in some cases your resistance may be met with deadly force. As shocking as these facts are, what's worse is the casual way in which many of these powers are administered. In many cases, there's no recordkeeping, at least not to the public, of how and under what circumstances these powers are used. And when records are available, it's generally for relatively innocuous powers of entry. For instance, under the Bees Act 1980, bee inspectors have the power to inspect bee colonies, with or without pe! rmission of the owner. And, while meticulous records are maintained of how this power has been used, that's not the case, for instance, with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has no comprehensive record of its use of the most intrusive powers, the use of "Writs of Assistance." (The Writ of Assistance allows Customs officials to bypass the requirement of obtaining a warrant before forcibly entering your home or business to seize any goods believed to be forfeitable to HMRC.) That's just the beginning - there are many more. And legislation is now in Parliament that would greatly expand the power of private bailiffs to forcibly enter your home and seize your property. No government authority should have the power to enter your property without your permission, unless there is probable cause of a crime. A free people should demand no less.