Reflecting on the case, Mr Ovenden told Radio 4's Today programme: "We'd be having long meetings on the priorities of the government and they would be railroaded by any other business into discussions about this gentleman. Asked why politicians could not ignore these subjects, Mr Ovenden said they had "effectively handed away power". "What they're really trying to do is hand away risk but they've handed away power to arm's length bodies, to quangos, to activists, to lawyers, to regulatory framework, to well-networked organisations... who are able to basically stop the machinery of government doing things." He said examples of subjects he considered to be distractions included paying colonial reparations or banning vaping in pub gardens. He argued that the government should start by scaling back some of the government's legal obligations such as environmental obligations for building and the right to launch legal challenges against government policies through judicial reviews.

Source: The Times January 02, 2026 17:42 UTC