Pete Robinson: Who's law is it anyway?

Does it belong to the Government? The police? The Queen maybe? How about the judges? Do they own the law?

Wrong on all counts. Read the Magna Carta of 1215 and the English Bill of Rights, 1689.

We own the law. The law belongs to us​ as a society. We elect government to enact the laws that we​ require in order to protect our liberty and our way of life as decent people, and we pay parliament handsomely for what they do. We then pay the judiciary and the police to enforce our laws in a manner that we deem satisfactory.

So why doesn't it work that way in today's reality? Our politicians lie as freely as they breath. Judges won't send anyone to our overflowing prisons and the police believe we are the real criminals, while hardened thugs and burglars are 'victims' of our society. Where has it all gone wrong? And how much longer are we going to put up with it?

The old, simplistic idea that laws must always be obeyed to the letter is outdated in these days of 'elected dictatorship', where the State believe it knows better then we, the people. The common argument is that we voted for this Government.

But we didn't. Here in England we voted for a different government, but we got this one thanks to the votes of other nations within the Union who have their own regional parliaments to protect their own interests, a right that English people are consistently denied. We simply bankroll this squalid arrangement through taxation.

Bad, unpopular laws must be challenged. Would anyone pretend the Tolpuddle Martyrs should have obeyed 'the Law'? Were it not for the civil disobedience of the suffragettes women might still be denied the right to vote. We'd still have the Poll Tax if not for the actions of a few.

So why do the 'antis' insist that smoking-ban rebels such as Hamish Howitt must blindly obey 'the Law'? A law that was based on lies, flagrantly against the election promises of the Govt and railroaded through parliament.

Licencees must ask themselves a simple question. If these individuals who challenge the law were to be successful in obtaining an amendment, and smoking pubs were permitted, would you​ choose to keep your premises entirely smoke free?

Unless your answer is 'Yes' then you should support them.