"'It's 'ealth and safety, innit?"

News that will no doubt sadden most contributors and readers of this blog: Bavaria's barmaids are to be forced to cover up under a new European Directive.

The European Union's "Optical Radiation Directive" requires employers of staff working outdoors to ensure they cover up to protect against what the directive calls "natural sources of radiation", or what the rest of the the planet calls "sunlight". This will put paid to the Bavarian barmaid's traditional "dirndl", described in the article as:

[A] dress and apron with a tight, low-cut top whose figure-hugging effect is enhanced by a short white blouse.

Got to love that "enhanced", haven't you? Serious journalism we're dealing with, here.

Full marks also to Christian Ude, mayor of Munich, who is quoted as saying:

"This is European law-making at its most pedantic. A waitress is no longer allowed to wander round a beer garden with a plunging neckline. I would not want to enter a beer garden under these conditions."