Well written PAXboy , could not agree more. There is no such thing as a fully "independent" regulator, and calls for it to intervene when things have gone wrong are just the usual way to pass the buck to the next level. But the USA and the UK , especially the UK, are ( were) always used as the standard to aim at in term of independent regulation , but in this case here we see the limits of the system. Corporate lobbying influences politics and Boeing cannot fail . Still the regulatory system in those 2 countries are far, far better than most parts of the world we should not loose sight of this..