Row over writing laws on animal skin
Print Edition
Britain’s government intervened yesterday to try and save the tradition of printing all laws on vellum made of animal skin, which dates back beyond the Magna Carta but is under threat to cut costs.
The House of Lords decided last week that the centuries-old practice would be scrapped and laws would be printed on paper instead of goatskin or sheepskin in a bid to save 80,000 pounds (US$116,000) per year.
That prompted fury among some lawmakers in the House of Commons and a senior lawmaker in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party, James Gray, was set to organize a debate to try to block it.
In a bid to secure the future use of vellum, Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock told the Daily Telegraph that his department would be prepared to cover the cost of recording all laws on animal skins.
“While the world around us constantly changes, we should safeguard some of our great traditions and not let the use of vellum die out,” he said.
Paul Wright, general manager of William Cowley, Britain’s last remaining vellum makers and suppliers to parliament, welcomed the intervention. He argued that printing laws on vellum lent them a greater sense of gravity.
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