Bureaucracy Quote by Nicholas Storey
““I make certain remarks here and there against the elephantine and unproductive organization known as the EU. I mean them. If ever an organization proliferated over-regulation and the reduction of the UK (as a member state) increasingly to a police state, this is it; moreover, a police state with fewer and fewer actual policemen in evidence on the streets to deal with the real criminals and far too many ‘jobsworths’ employed to read through our e-mails and regulate myriad other details of our personal lives. Honoré de Balzac put the general point rather well: ‘Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism, operated by pygmies.’ However, I mean no inferences to be drawn against the other individual member states themselves or their good citizens.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Public commentary on EU regulation, 2023
The EU is portrayed as overly bureaucratic, stifling freedom and turning the UK into a police state with excessive surveillance and insufficient real policing.
In simple terms: EU seen as oppressive bureaucracy
Key Takeaway
Beware over‑regulation and loss of personal liberty
Themes
bureaucracy
surveillance
freedom
government
regulation
Mood
critical
concerned
Type
political
opinion
When to use this quote
- political debate
- policy analysis
- citizen activism
- media commentary
Key Concepts
authoritarianism
privacy erosion
state overreach
Questions to Reflect On
- What specific reforms could balance regulation and liberty?
- How does bureaucracy affect everyday life?
A Different Perspective
Too broad a critique may ignore EU benefits and member state diversity
![“When the fountains of government [borrowing] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the state was forced to check the extension of bureaucracy and to put a stop to public works, then and then only did the Italians realize what it…” quote by John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/908/john-t-flynn-18493_abundance_when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowi_2663.jpg)
![“[The Utopia of Rules] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way to get rid of all those hours spent listening to bad call-centre music? Do policemen, academics, teachers and doctors really need to spend half their time filling in…” quote by Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/223/gillian-tett-57286_accepting_the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-chall_39418.jpg)
