Sunset provisions needed

A recent survey in Britain on which laws Brits regards as their most stupid laws make a case for sunset provisions. The laws include a ban on eating mince pies on Christmas days from the days of puritan rule. It was meant to prevent the societal problem of gluttony.

The problem is not that the law books are full of ridiculous laws, but that these sleeping regulations can be used against citizens when they least expect it. I am sure Pervez Musharraf would have loved to have some mince pie rules, or upside- down monarch stamps to use against those judges he has been trying to depose lately…

Anyway, here’s Britains top ten:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (seven percent)

3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)

4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (five percent)

5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (four percent)

6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman’s helmet (four percent)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 percent)

8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (three percent)

10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)