It has recently been announced that people will have less time to apply for judicial reviews of planning decisions, that fees will be increased, and that only two appeals, not four as is currently the case, will be allowed.
I am not sure what the optimal number of appeals for judicial review might be. But I do find the terms in which it is being couched rather extraordinary:
In a speech to the CBI in London on Monday, Mr Cameron will say the country is in the “economic equivalent of war” and needs the “same spirit.”
He will argue for less bureaucracy as the emphasis is put on the pursuit of economic growth.
He will draw an analogy with how the country responded to fighting Hitler.
“When this country was at war in the 40s, Whitehall underwent a revolution.
“Normal rules were circumvented. Convention was thrown out. As one historian put it, everything was thrown at ‘the overriding purpose’ of beating Hitler.
“Well, this country is in the economic equivalent of war today – and we need the same spirit. We need to forget about crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ – and we need to throw everything we’ve got at winning in this global race.”
Such logic would be quite chilling if deployed in a more charged context than that of planning decisions.
Hat tip: Ellie Mae O’Hagan
