Drama group told to register toy gun with police.

If you want an idea of how England is being regulated to death by morons at all levels of government all you have to do is see what recently happened to the Carnon Downs drama group.

The group puts on pantomimes and sometimes they use a toy gun which shoots out a flag that says “bang”. And other times they use plastic swords.

The bureaucrats that run the Health and Safety Executive have detailed rules about what one is allowed to do with fake weapons on stage. Linda Barker, of the drama group, said: “The cutlasses count as weapons even though they are replicas and made of plastic and apparently they could be mistaken for real ones.”

And one of the rules is that these faux weapons have to be registered with the police. Barker noted, “It gets a bit farcical when you are dealing with plastic swords. It is not as if anyone is likely to be scared by them.”

The group was told that when the toys are not being used on stage that they are required to keep them under lock and key. The plastic stage props have to be kept in a secured case, in a locked room with only restricted access. Elaine Gummow, co-director of the drama group said this “is perhaps a sign of the times that health and safety is everywhere.”

One of the bureaucrats said: “We do not want to stop people putting on pantos or having fun as long as the risks are sensibly managed.” Of course, when they say “managed” what they mean is managed by them.

After the police were informed they told the drama group that they were also required to inform the fire brigade.

Not long ago actor Ewan McGregor said that the “ludicrous nanny state” in England may drive him out of England. “If anything drives me out of the country it will be that...” McGregor said, “Today, health and safety are out of control.”

The bureaucrat who said they don’t want to stop fun didn’t explain how towns in England had to actually cancel traditional Christmas lighting displays as a result of the micromanagement of the unelected bureaucrats. In Clevedon the local businesses canceled their display after they were told that attaching lights to either buildings or to light poles was too risky. One trader said: “The rules and regulations regarding Christmas lights have changed to such an extent that to put the illuminations we have used is near impossible.” A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses said that “exhaustive safety concerns are ruining the festive spirit.”