Has the civil service been muzzled?

16/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Has the civil service been muzzled, or are they deliberately letting Gordon’s daft ideas see the light of day?

Another week, another daft idea for a new tax.  This week it is the Government consultation proposing all dog owners pay a compulsory levy for their dog.  Whilst introduced under the guise of clamping down on dangerous dogs, it has the crazy logic that owners of poodles and chihuahuas would pay the tax but owners of fighting dogs like pitbulls would not (as they are already banned and so not subject to the levy).

It reminds me of watching Yes Minister, only Sir Humphrey has not bothered to intervene.  Gordon has pushed on regardless. Does he really think thugs using a dog as a weapon is really going pay this levy?

There are over 600,000 homes with dogs in the East of England alone.  Even Darcy, the trainee guide dog for the blind would be subject to a levy.  This will not stop the 100 cases every week in England of people sent to hospital because of dog attacks.

We should give the police and councils powers to tackle dangerous dogs through Dog Control Notices, so we target the minority who behave badly, not the quiet majority who are responsible.  This tax will instead disproportionately target the majority of responsible dog owners.  As ever, Gordon Brown sees tax as the solution to every problem.

Posted in Cats & Dogs, Labour Failure | No Comments »