'Seven laws a day' in Blair decade

Over the course of the last decade, each year has seen an average of 2,685 new laws - the equivalent of almost seven-and-a-half a day or one every three-and-a-quarter hours - said legal information providers Sweet & Maxwell.

That is a 22% increase over the average 2,196 annually over the previous ten years 1987-96, and the total does not even include thousands of laws introduced into the UK under European Union regulations over the decade.

The flood of legislation has also been marked by an increase in the use of statutory instruments, rather than Acts of Parliament, to introduce new laws, said Sweet & Maxwell.

Some 98% of new laws in the Blair decade were introduced by statutory instrument, a procedure which allows less time for debate in Parliament - and potentially less thorough scrutiny - than the tabling of a Bill.

Critics of Mr Blair's Government have often accused it of a love of new legislation and a willingness to burden businesses with red tape.

The research suggests this tendency of legislative hyperactivity has been most marked in areas such as employment law and criminal law, with 40 criminal justice Acts introduced since 1997.

Meanwhile, the statutes themselves have become longer, with five Acts passed in 2006 totalling more than 100 pages, three more than 200, one more than 300, one more than 500 and one more than 700.

Cambridge University Professor of Law Len Sealy, a Sweet & Maxwell author, said: "The trend towards higher volumes of new legislation and the introduction of laws via statutory instruments preceded Blair but his time in office has certainly not seen an end to this rising tide."

Prof Sealy also pointed out the Blair years have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of EU legislation that becomes law in the UK without ever having to be passed through the UK Parliament as a statute or statutory instrument. "There were over 2,100 European regulations in 2006," said Prof Sealy.