Sometimes it does seem that governments can be the biggest security threat:

The bill aims to speed up the process by which redundant laws are changed and allows them to be amended on ministers’ orders, without parliamentary scrutiny.

The Commons Regulatory Reform Committee said it was “the most constitutionally significant bill” for some years.

“[The bill] provides ministers with a wide and general power that could be used to repeal amend or replace almost any primary legislation”
Andrew Miller MP

It is pressing for the power to monitor all laws amended by ministers, so it can veto any it decides need further parliamentary intervention.

The committee also wants certain laws protected from the changes.

Red tape law ‘must not be abused’ BBC, 6 February 2006

In the U.S. we supposedly have such protections, written into the Constitution and its amendments.

It seems sanity won the day in the U.K. this time, and they get to keep trial by jury and the Magna Carta:

The government is to back down over a bill which would have given ministers the power to alter legislation without the approval of Parliament.

The amendments are in response to criticism by MPs from all parties and from civil liberties groups.

Government amends law change bill BBC, 4 May 2006

Cutting red tape sounds like a fine idea, but how to do it without cutting civil liberties is the interesting question.

-jsq