Had a riotous time this morning. Up at 6am to go to the BBC to judge the shortlist for the Today Programme's Listener's Law competition with Labour MP Steve Pound and my friend Julia Hartley-Brewer, the glam political editor of the Sunday Express. We chose a representative selection from the 8,000 emails and letters the programme received, rather than necessarily the suggestions we agreed with ourselves - although I do agree with four out of the six! Personally I would introduce a law to outlaw all new legislation for the next 12 months. We have far too much of it. I liked the suggestion of someone who said that for every new regulation we introduce we must commit to abolish two others. My own suggestion for a new law would be to fine people who think it is 'cool' to show off a bare midriff when quite frankly they haven't got the figure for it. More seriously I would like to introduce legislation to force the government compensate people who lose their houses and livelihoods through coastal erosion. Only this week I went to see the decimation at Happisburgh, where several local people face losing their properties in the next few weeks.
