Letter in today's Daily Telegraph which just about sums it all up. How far are we off the excuse "We were just following orders" which was used previously in history as an excuse for certain atrocities?
The compliance disease
SIR – Recent letters from airline pilots complaining about being subject to the same security as passengers, lest they violently seize control of their own aircraft, are a symptom of a wider problem.
The Government insists on micro-managing every aspect of our lives and imposes strict regulations that remove any discretion to apply common sense by minor officials. This has further and more harmful effects
GPs used to be responsible for treating their patients according to their medical judgment, but now they are instead required to run specialist clinics and schemes with targeted take-up rates. Many patients are alienated by the pressure the GP applies to ensure compliance with the targets.
The police are subject to similar constraints. Every fatal motor accident, for example, has to be investigated as a “potential crime scene”, even though an experienced officer can tell a suspicious “accident” from more straightforward ones at a glance. The investigation will close the road for hours, at vast cost, when the police need public support to investigate a real crime.
Accountants used to have to prepare statutory accounts that gave a “true and fair” view of the state of a company’s affairs. Now they need only ensure the rules have been followed to the letter.
We have two choices: to employ only infallible, omniscient and omnipotent regulators, or to give those enforcing the rules more discretion.
If there is a being who meets the criteria for the first, I fear he is unlikely to apply for the job, having better things to do. The latter is also a problem as our schools seem unwilling to promote initiative and common sense in pupils.
Mark Edwards
Witney, Oxfordshire