#Japan #Earthquake: Textbook UK Bureaucratic Red Tape

UK, whose parliamentary system was copied by the Japanese when Japan opened up the country, is neck in neck with Japan when it comes to bureaucratic red tape.

BBC reports that 15 UK rescue workers had to fly back home after the British Embassy in Japan refused to issue them one piece of paper necessary for them to work in Japan.

I'm sure Sir Humphreys at the British Foreign Office are lamenting the situation but saying sorry rules are rules.

From BBC News (3/16/2011, video interview at the link):

UK rescue workers say they had to leave quake-hit Japan because they could not secure the necessary paperwork from the British embassy in Tokyo.

The International Rescue Corps said they were not given permission to work in Japan because it would have made the embassy legally responsible for them.

The Foreign Office said it was "not true" it was thwarted by red tape.

The ICR's Ray Gray and Julie Ryan told the BBC they were disappointed they could not assist with rescue efforts in Japan.

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