YourFreedom

Thanks for the feedback! I agree with the part in bold in particular - could rooftops be included? On allotments, I have often thought a lot of the little bits of council-owned land in the UK throughout urban areas which are not useable for picnics, ball games, barbeques or whatever because of they are too close to roads, landscaping or whatever should be put on a register and allowed to be claimed for use by people who want to use them to grow vegetables, plants or the like. Better than just a patchy bit of grass the council has to maintain at a cost, right? How would you amend the planning laws more, though? Is there any bit of them that should be reworded or taken out in particular that would help? And what are the rules on animals in allotments, anyway? Struggling to find anything useful on OPSI.

How would I be winding you up by asking what rules and regulations fanciers find too strict or overbearing? It's not something non-fanciers can find out about easily - what harm could possibly come from talking about it with them? As for the username, I wanted to post about the Your Freedom site, and it was the first thing that came to mind. Unimaginative, maybe, but it's not supposed to be an insult or anything.

I don't know what makes you think I'm a "crank". I really don't know the "real issues" affecting pigeon racing - which is why I'm asking what they are. For example I had no clue raptors were considered a problem, having thought pigeon keeping was more of an urban thing. I also did not realise the RSPB was seen as a problem, having had (like I would guess most laypeople) a generally positive view of it previously. What is it they're doing that causes such problems? I would be distrubed if it were true that it gives money to the government, as I'm pretty sure it also gets money from the government - all a bit dodgy. Quite honestly, I had been under the impression that the problems affecting pigeon racing concerned keeping pigeons - rules about the sizes of lofts and aviaries, needing planning permission for most of it, too strict rules concerning where a loft was allowed to be relative to a neighbours house and so on, but I didn't know any of the specifics. Was I misinformed?

Heh, oh, I would very much like to see the question of immigration and our porous borders sorted out, but I'm afraid I'm not anybody important. In fact, I'm not a politician of any kind. Just interested in the pigeon keeping tradition in our country, and whether or not anything could be done to make things easier on fanciers. Much better to ask the people involved than some civil servant, I thought!

The government two days ago, I think, its online Your Freedom initiative, asking members of the public for their ideas on cutting red tape, shedding burdersome regulations and repealing bad or unncesessary laws. Now, a cynical man might suggest it has something of the publicity stunt or consultation "sop" about it, but assuming it is at least somewhat on the level, is there any way this could be used to help fanciers? I must confess, it's a hobby/sport I've only been able to enjoy very occasionally, and as a spectator, but my father would often talk about it as a great working-class tradition that has (he alleged) been strangled by regulators. I know it's something thousands of people in the British Isles still enjoy, though, and got the impression reading The Red Canary that yes, it was pretty tightly controlled. What ideas would you guys like to submit to a site like Your Freedom? Are there many things you would have politicians do away with, steamline or just amend? Any bodies you would abolish or restructure? Is there any particularly overbearing bureaucracy confronting fanciers in Great Britain when purchasing birds, registering them, breeding them? Are there expensive licenses which you feel are unnecessary, or are the authorities too stringent when it comes to transporting birds or setting up premises to keep them in? Perhaps the regulations dictating the dimensions of lofts or where in a building or garden you are allowed to keep them seem draconian? Perhaps there are a touch too many hoops to jump through when you want to race your birds, or set up a demonstration, even on your own land - if you have enough! Is it difficult to import, export or just move your birds across borders? Are the laws in Scotland, Ulster, England and Wales different enough that it causes problems moving between the home nations? Are there regulators and boards and so on that, generally speaking you think could be merged or just done without? I'd be very interested to hear any of your thoughts, and to see links to any proposals you do post on the site! N.B. Despite the username, I'm not actually affiliated with the Your Freedom website or Her Majesty's Civil Service or the government, and I'm certainly not affiliated with Nick Clegg!