Mike Robinson FCA

It’s a question that has forever dogged health and safety and is once again being asked by politicians eager to ditch so-called ‘red tape’ in a bid to curb the rising cost of living. Back in the 1980s, when our founder James Tye successfully campaigned to make wearing a seat belt a legal requirement, Lord Balfour of Inchrye opposed it. He argued the “nanny state” would simply intrude further into our lives on things like smoking and – heaven forfend – mandating the use of life jackets.

Speaking to MPs on 21 February, Boris Johnson said: “We don’t need laws to compel people to be considerate to others. We can rely on that sense of responsibility to others, providing practical advice in the knowledge that people will follow it to avoid infecting loved ones and others.