Laws, laws everywhere and not a drop of common sense

It might sound like an Ealing comedy. But it is not funny. It illustrates the fact that law-making in Britain has lost all contact with common sense. The town of Deal in Kent has a heraldic crest. Some local vigilante has pointed out that since the grant of arms was made, the local government boundaries have altered, so it is no longer technically legal for the town to use its current arms. But a replacement would cost the ratepayers tens of thousands of pounds. Deal football club would also be stuck with a five-figure bill.

From the outset, this government has preached two sermons. First, that as the country is broke, it is intolerable that agencies of government should waste money. Second, that many social improvements are best achieved through the little platoons of the Big Society, rather than by the clumsy exertions of Big Government. So what is happening in Deal?

It is not the fault of the College of Heralds. Although that august body defends the integrity of heraldry, it would not dream of persecuting harmless misuse, committed in good faith. This problem arises because Deal is in England, not in the Mezzogiorno. When its councillors discovered that they had been breaking the law, they were unhappy. They do not like breaking the law.

From comedy to philosophy: what is law? Law is the intellectual framework for the maintenance of order. Any well-run society must depend on rough Hobbesian foundations, even if they are concealed beneath more elegant architecture. Men renounce freedoms and obey laws in order to protect themselves and their property. It therefore follows that if law is social cement, it can only work effectively if it rests on a broad basis of consent.