Letters: Why does the Navy have more admirals than ships?

Pointless laws

Sir: The leading article ‘Wrong problem, wrong law’ (19 October) makes cogent points about the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, in particular pointing out that it would probably not have made any difference had it been in force at the time of the Manchester Arena bombing, and that if passed it will impose disproportionate and often unmanageable burdens on venues such as churches and village halls. There is, in truth, a wider point here: most legislation is either counterproductive, useless or both. All legislation has five aspects:

(1) A real purpose. This may be to achieve the ostensible purpose of the legislation, but is often really to make it look as if the government is ‘doing something’.

(2) An ostensible purpose. Every Act has an ostensible purpose e.g. to reduce violent crime by restricting weapons.