News story

Your Freedom

The Government has asked the public for their ideas to reduce pointless regulation and unnecessary bureaucracy.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg launched the Your Freedom website giving people the opportunity to suggest ideas on restoring liberties that have been lost, repealing unnecessary laws and stripping away excessive regulation on businesses.

Mr Clegg urged people to use the site to make their voices heard. He said:

For too long new laws have taken away your freedom, interfered in everyday life and made it difficult for businesses to get on. We want your ideas on how to change that, ideas on how we restore hard-won freedoms that have been lost, on how we repeal unnecessary laws that have amassed onto the statute book, on how we strip away the restrictive regulations that stop businesses from innovating. This debate isn’t new - people are already talking about it around kitchen tables, in staff rooms, online - but what is new is that for the first time in a long time, Government is listening and we’ll put the best suggestions into practice. It’s a totally new way of making policy - a totally new way of putting you in charge.

The public have been asked to consider three questions:

  • Restoring civil liberties: which current laws would you like to remove or change because they restrict your civil liberties?
  • Cutting business and charity regulations: which regulations do you think should be removed or changed to make running your business or organisation as simple as possible?
  • Repealing unnecessary laws: which offences do you think we should remove or change and why?

Users of the site will be able to comment on and rate their favourite ideas and relevant departments will then respond to the most popular workable ideas.

The views expressed on Your Freedom will be taken into account in the Freedom Bill later this year.

Published 1 July 2010