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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder which other laws you would break.

233 replies

StatisticalSense · 19/12/2020 22:33

Considering half of this site seems to be completely happy with breaking Covid related laws which other laws do you think shouldn't apply to you?
Is a TV licence too expensive and therefore optional? Should seatbelts be compulsory? Is it ever acceptable to take something without paying? Is assault acceptable in certain circumstances?

OP posts:
NotOfThisWorld · 20/12/2020 08:14

@Wrongsideofhistorymyarse

I love the smell of sanctimony in the morning.
This is so stupid. Would you be sanctimonious if someone stole you car? Maybe that person feels really down about not having their own car. Actually they believe in wealth redistribution. If you object to it you're really just being sanctimonious. People break the law all the time honey. Just get over it. Same deal If I run you down in my car while blind drunk. I really wanted to go to the party and have some drinks, and I really didn't want to get cold walking home. If you object you're really just a sancimonious twat. I'm growing a back bone and ignoring laws I don't like.
TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 20/12/2020 08:16

I have weed in my spice rack.

I once (accidently) stole an umbrella. I took it back, but it still counts as a crime.

nosswith · 20/12/2020 08:19

I once postal voted without having the supportive witness signature and made one up. There are occasions when I had a car and sped whilst overtaking on a single carriageway road.

I take the view that peaceful lawbreaking can in some circumstances be justified, but in respect of visiting at Christmas, this is not one.

PhilCornwall1 · 20/12/2020 08:20

I still owe a fine on a school library book from 32 years ago. Alcatraz is calling me!!

Herja · 20/12/2020 08:20

I keep all laws which I find logical, but there are plenty that I don't.

As it happens, It have followed most of the covid rules and have frequently gone above and beyond them. I cannot in all honest say that I respect the law for the laws sake though. Indeed, the very existance of the police would suggest there are quite a few people who don't follow all the laws...

cologne4711 · 20/12/2020 08:22

Most people who virtue signal about never breaking the law break motoring laws - all the time.

And yes, if you are starving and can't use a food bank because you don't qualify for "signposting" then it is ok to steal food.

I also can't see the issue with taking things out of skips. The owners have dumped the stuff in them. It's a courtesy to ask them if it's ok to take something, but I couldn't get wound up by somebody nicking something out of it if I didn't want it.

And assault in self defence - of course though that is then not technically a crime anyway.

CarlottaValdez · 20/12/2020 08:23

i have weed in my spice rack.

Genuinely read that as you have pissed in your spice rack. I was thinking that’s not actually against the law. 😂

lomojojo · 20/12/2020 08:24

It's our law. We collectively make and live by it. If a law is made that the main cannot live by, then the law is an ass.

AllTheUserNamesAreTaken · 20/12/2020 08:25

COVID rules aren't law

They really are.

They are all against the law. There is a difference between the ‘rules’ and the law. Some things have been against the rules but not written into legislation.

cologne4711 · 20/12/2020 08:26

I once (accidently) stole an umbrella. I took it back, but it still counts as a crime

No it isn't, there has to be an intention to permanently deprive the owner of the item, which you didn't have.

InTheNightWeWillWish · 20/12/2020 08:26

So the A-Level Law answer is that laws are based on morality or safety. The laws based on morality are not to murder, steal... but we know everyone has a different moral compass and what is acceptable morally. We can argue that certain circumstances make a murder more morally acceptable, for example if the victim has hurt a child (or children). Other laws like seatbelts are based on safety. There is a lot of evidence to support that wearing seatbelts saves lives. Our punishments for breaking laws tend to be much more severe for those laws that are based on morals.

Now, you could argue that the covid rules are about safety. Except that they have frequently contradicted each other. You could have 15 guests at a wedding but 30 at a funeral because Clearly covid only spreads when you’re having fun. I can have a cleaner in my house but I can’t have my mum in despite the fact that we’ve both been working from home from March. I can go for a business lunch inside, as many times as I wasn’t but I can’t have an outdoor lunch with my friends. Again, clearly covid can only transmit when you’re having fun. However, morality also needs to play a part in the covid rules. Is it moral to not see your brother when they have said they are suicidal? Is it moral to leave your mother on her own knowing full well she’s been isolated from everyone all year?

By the way, I’ve followed the guidelines since the very beginning.

Rollingpiglet · 20/12/2020 08:27

All those laws listed in the OP have been around for years, and are known and understood by the public. The recent, constantly changing laws/guidelines not so much. I have noticed a lot of people can no longer keep up with what we are allowed to do. It is not made clear by Boris what is law and what is guidelines, so I am not surprised people are ignoring a lot of it.

I have always been keen to keep to the rules, although I have ridden a horse while drunk, and been caught speeding. I never thought I'd find myself in a situation where it is illegal to have my Mum round for a cup of tea.

Plussizejumpsuit · 20/12/2020 08:28

Ok seen as you are asking I would (hypothetical of course, probably loads more if I thought I wouldn't be caught)

Torrent stuff
Buy drugs
Steal from a big company
Steal from rich people
Hurt somone who hurt my family
Break the speed limit

GiveMeCamembert · 20/12/2020 08:29

Yeah I've broken a few actually, especially when I think they're nonsense and not based in reality.

But if you want to blindly follow whatever random new rule the government has introduced that week without question then go ahead.

treening · 20/12/2020 08:31

Is it moral to not see your brother when they have said they are suicidal? Is it moral to leave your mother on her own knowing full well she’s been isolated from everyone all year?

Exactly. There is not only one moral choice.

ForestNymph · 20/12/2020 08:33

@treening

Is it moral to not see your brother when they have said they are suicidal? Is it moral to leave your mother on her own knowing full well she’s been isolated from everyone all year?

Exactly. There is not only one moral choice.

This is what people don't realise and it really gets on my tits. You have no idea what circumstances people have. You can shout rulez is rulez all you want, if you think for one minute I'm going to abandon my family, you can get to fuck.
GarlicMonkey · 20/12/2020 08:35

I would break any & every law I had to if my children's wellbeing relied on it.

NotOfThisWorld · 20/12/2020 08:39

Maybe the OP should say in what other ways are you happy to risk the lives of others so you can have a nice party?

TW2013 · 20/12/2020 08:39

I would probably risk the vagrants act and ask someone for change for the car park if I really needed it. I would probably also risk getting drunk in a pub or carrying a ladder down the road to lend to a neighbour. All technically illegal under some circumstances but I would rely on common sense to prevail in such circumstances.

treening · 20/12/2020 08:39

Maybe the OP should say in what other ways are you happy to risk the lives of others so you can have a nice party?

I don't give a shit about a party, but I do give a shit about the mental health of my unwell family members.

Nowaynothappening · 20/12/2020 08:42

Honestly think the police should be chasing murderers, rapists, child molestors, domestic abuse perpetrators etc as opposed to people having their Gran and Uncle Bob round for Christmas.

SomewhereEast · 20/12/2020 08:51

I have always been pretty law abiding before, but then the Government has never tried to incompetently & intrusively micromanage every aspect of my life with sets of rules which abruptly change every other week & seem to bear almost no relation to actual infection rates in my area.

Not that I'm going out of my way to break laws now. I'm just past giving a shit if taking my kids for a walk with a friend and her kids means we're a party of seven not six or whatever.

PhilCornwall1 · 20/12/2020 08:51

@Nowaynothappening

Honestly think the police should be chasing murderers, rapists, child molestors, domestic abuse perpetrators etc as opposed to people having their Gran and Uncle Bob round for Christmas.
And if you post it on Facebook or Twitter, you are guaranteed a visit. I'm sure they'd apply some other bonkers law on top.
ForestNymph · 20/12/2020 08:53

@Nowaynothappening

Honestly think the police should be chasing murderers, rapists, child molestors, domestic abuse perpetrators etc as opposed to people having their Gran and Uncle Bob round for Christmas.
Yeah I find it amazing there aren't enough coppers to deal with actual crime but someone having a few guests over for a cheeky pint and suddenly there's a whole SWAT team available 🤨
Littlefluffyclouds13 · 20/12/2020 09:03

I climbed over the fence to get into Glastonbury throughout my 20s.

I definitely partook in underage drinking and took a fair few illegal drugs too.

I think most of us have broken minor laws op.