adam . # .

Only Lord William Rees-Mogg can save us now!: Well, the House of Lords has about the same legislative authority as a wet dishrag, but its a wet dishrag talking sense in The Times today :

Not much of this optimism has survived. The 21st century has been a period in which most governments sought to reassert and extend control; often adopting policies that would once have been regarded as illegal and outrageous. The decisive event was 9/11. Public fear of terrorism gave governments the support needed to tighten systems of social control and supervision. In the United States, the clear constitutional safeguards against imprisonment without due process were set aside. Any president responsible for \"extraordinary rendition\" or Guantanamo before 9/11 would have been impeached; President Bush was re-elected.

These anti-terror laws have been fine pieces of demagoguery, only the undemocratically appointed - or non-majority appointed - arms of government (eg judges, British Lords, Green Senators) have had much chance to say against it.

Also in The Times today: this curiosity on archaic laws

From a statute of 1324, any whale washed up on the United Kingdom coastline has to be offered to the Crown and cannot be disposed of without the consent of the Sovereign. By tradition the head belongs to the King and the tail to his consort \"to furnish the Queen\'s wardrobe with whalebone\".