One has to be wary of using cultural references so here is an explanation of Doublespeak – Wikipedia, ‘Doublespeak is language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., “downsizing” for layoffs, “servicing the target” for bombing), in which case it is primarily meant to make the truth sound more palatable.

This report by the New Economics Foundation written by Stephen Devlin and Christine Berry provides an up to date view on the UK Government’s Better Regulation – Deregulation – policy.

To read and download the report go to:

http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/entry/threat-to-democracy?

NEF ‘Better regulation’ is a little-known but powerful initiative that affects us all: our safety, our environment, our health, our rights at work and our democracy. The term sounds innocuous, but in fact it has little to do with the quality of policy-making. The story of ‘better regulation’ is, first and foremost, a story of corporate capture.

In the name of ‘better regulation’, a large and unaccountable bureaucracy has been created with the express purpose of making it more difficult for government departments to pass laws which impose costs on businesses. This includes:

• One in, two out: a rule that prevents government departments from implementing new laws that impose £1 of cost to business unless they also repeal £2 from elsewhere, regardless of social or environmental benefits.
• The Regulatory Policy Committee: a panel composed mainly of business representatives that ‘validates’ departments’ estimates of the costs of new regulation, providing official opinions with the power to delay the introduction of new rules.
• Impact assessments: the requirement for civil service economists to complete a detailed appraisal of proposed policy changes and, where possible, express all impacts in terms of monetary values.
• The Red Tape Challenge: a crowd-sourcing initiative in which the government invites the public to propose existing laws that should be scrapped.

The combined effect has been profound. Important social protections have been watered down, such as workers’ protection from unfair dismissal and speed limits for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). Perhaps more significantly, the space for new initiatives has been dramatically curtailed, both by creating a deliberate chilling effect in the civil service and by delaying or blocking proposals that do surface.

To read more go to: http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/entry/threat-to-democracy?