Customer Reviews
Quirky - By: Ian Cook, 08 Jul 2008 
You should definitely read this book, it is an essential slice of the madness that is Britain today. But when I had finished it I felt a little underwhelmed, a little unsure, as if it somehow didn't fully explain something. Odd, but there you go.
The more people that read this the better! - By: N. de Cort, 08 Jul 2008 
Having been concerned about the erosion of civil liberties, particularlyin the light of the recent 42-day detention issue, I saw this & couldn't resist: & the situation is worse than I feared!
This book is funny, but it's also scary; it shows us how we're sleepwalkingin (not into, in: we're already there) a situation where anyone can be stopped & searched for no reason (the Government enacted legislation enabling the police to stop & search anyone for no reason under exceptional circumstances for a month at a time: that legislation has been renewed every monthin Greater London since 2002!)
He also lists the ten most ridiculous laws, not saying that they are rdiculous per se, but that the heavy-handed & ill-thought-out laws have unintended & ridiculous consequences:
Sex Offences Act 2003... Section 9 prohibits sexual contact with a child (obviously not ridiculous) 'but when applied with Section 13... it actually makes it a criminal offence for two teenagers to snog'. This was bad enough, but when I mentioned itin passing to a solicitor friend, she said that she had personally dealt with people actually prosecuted for, basically, a teenage snogin the park.
It's a real eye-opener. Anyone who has given any thought at all to the disregarding of 800 years of legal rights as enshrinedin the Magna Carta will read this & realise that it's much worse than they thought.
Fantastic look at the erosion of civil liberties - By: Mr. EAS WALKER, 15 Jun 2008 An excellent read, made me laugh, angry & cry with despair at some of the laws we've now got.
Not just a funny story - By: S. George, 13 Jun 2007 When I read "From cake-eating protests to roof-clambering OAPs..." I thought this book was a just collection of humourous stories about eccentric Brits but I was wrong - don't dismiss it as a book of funny tales. Yes, there's lots of humour - I've laughed out loud several times already (and I'm only half-way through it) - but it's so much more. Finally, someone dares to use that rarely-heard word: commonsense!
Dan Kieren looks at real problems & talks to the people who are trying to do something about them. Not the politicians, the professionals or anyonein power, but the people who are standing up for what they believein - despite having no real voice & despite being at odds with a government whose current thinking labels them as crackpots & troublemakers.
If you're despairing at the current state of the UK, if you have even an inkling of a doubt that the government has its citizens' best interests at heart or if you've ever wondered at the sheer crassness of the legal system, then read this book.
It's refreshingly truthful, funny, warm & full of commonsense.
required reading - By: A. Banville, 04 Jun 2007 This book provides a crucial insight into the insidious erosion of our civil liberties which should worry every citizen of this country interestedin actually livingin a democracy. Dan explores this serious subject with humour & humanity - a must read!
