Is Britain Gripped By Health And Safety Madness?
Read Time:3 Minute, 18 Second
by Neil Bamforth
Now I know some of you insist that British liberals are the same as American liberals – and who am I to argue eh? – but if that is indeed true, then I am very much afraid you are all nutty as fruitcakes. You are all a sandwich short of a picnic. You are all stark raving mad. I can say this on good authority because, frankly it is true. Of course, perhaps you American liberals are different to British liberals in which case it is only our liberals who are bonkers.
Health and Safety legislation in Britain has, for decades, been driven by the British liberal mentality. For all of those decades it has become increasingly clear that, without exception, these particular liberals are all out to lunch.
The Oxford and Cambridge boat race is the latest victim. For well over one hundred years a flotilla of boats has followed the two university rowing teams along the Thames. Suddenly, out of the blue, ‘Health and Safety’ have said they can’t any longer as they have petrol engines and might explode.
I kid you not.
I offered to make a wildlife pond at our local library for the ‘gardening club’ of which my wife is a member. They were very enthusiastic about it but, British liberal tradition being what it is, the council declined my offer on the grounds that some child might drown in it.
Personally I’d like to go ahead anyway and drown the liberal councilors in it.
A hundred year old tree was cut down. Not because it was dangerous but because it had the misfortune to be close to a children’s playground and the poor little blighters might climb it and fall off and injure themselves. Seriously. A tree that had stood there for over a hundred years minding it’s own business and doing nothing else but tree like things was felled because of Britain’s liberal Health and Safety legislation.
For many years parks often had signs up saying ‘Keep off The Grass’. This wasn’t ‘Health and Safety,’ this was simply an area where the park wanted the grass protected. Nothing more nothing less.
Lately I went to a park and a sign said ‘Keep of the grass in wet weather as the council cannot be held responsible for injury if you slip and injure yourself’.
What?????
School playgrounds are banning running. School sports are banning any physicality. Competitive sports are frowned upon as it’s not in the interests of the health and safety of children if they have to lose.
The whole world’s gone barmy and barking mad.
The ancient game of ‘conkers’ – you know it? You drill a hole through the conker, slip string through and knot it and then away you go trying to smash some other kids conker up.
Well, many schools have banned it as it is dangerous.
One school actually allowed it as long as the children wore protective goggles and gloves.
Oh for God’s sake British liberals. Get a bloody life.
Perhaps they were all bullied at school or something. I don’t know. Something must have happened to them to turn them into such unadulterated wimps and make them want to turn everyone else into wimps too.
Does America have to put up with such bullshit? If so, are American liberals to blame? You tell me.
Over here in Blighty it is entirely the fault of British liberals that children aren’t allowed to breath and grow and cut their knees and scrape their knuckles and learn to live!
Over here our liberals seem to think that life is a box of chocolates or, if it isn’t, it should be and they want to make it so.
Bloody idiots.
Rise up Britannia! Ignore British liberals! Climb trees! Throw children in ponds!! – one way of learning to swim 😉
So American liberals. Are you the same? Just curious. An inquiring mind wants to know. Are you all equally nuts?
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Well, I consider myself liberal, but I still believe in personal responsibility! An individual is responsible when he/she falls on the wet grass to get him/her self up and not blame anyone for the accident! And anyone who climbs a tree is responsible for any injury that he/she sustains as a result! I know that there is a lot of anti-PC around, and it’s trumpeted by Trump, but there is PC and PC. The PC that means civility is something for which I am all in favor. The PC that means the government has to protect you against absolutely every possibility is ridiculous! A friend of mine, when my kids were younger, claimed that it was absolutely horrible to have wheeled infant walkers: they could fall down the stairs! If you have wheeled Walker for your child, then it is your responsibility to keep said child from falling down the stairs with the walker! I have a ranch house with no basement: is it my responsibility to not by a wheeled walker because YOUR child might fall down the stairs? I think not!
First thing we do is kill all the lawyers.
It is called the “pussification’ of the world. When I was 3 and 4 I used to climb trees and onto the roofs of my grandparents garages, nobody gave a shite, either.
No, it is not just Britain Neil. America has gone too far in its protect the children as well. A lot of ours has to do with preventing violent behavior though it is not helping a whole lot. Children who make a gun like motion with their fingers are kicked out of school as young as 5 years of age. Some child was suspended from school for eating his Pop Tart into the shape of a gun. Hell, they can’t build a play ground these days unless they cover the ground with soft rubber pieces in the event the kids fall. CHrist, when I was growing up there were playgrounds made of concrete and we made “guns” from wood and clothes pins that you could shoot other kids with large rubber bands. We played “cops and robbers” and “cowboys and indians” all the time. I remember going into the swamp behind the projects and playing on the old dead trees playing Tarzan, catching snakes. So no, it is not just Britain, it is over here also.