REGULATION Rules

Annual general meeting of the Association of Professional Tourist Guides today which I attended (most of). It is always a good occasion to discuss matter of concern to the profession and guides usually have plenty to say (too much quite often).
We adopted a document 'APTG 2010 - The year Ahead' which sets out our policies. I did not in the end vote against it but I have a lot of reservations about the last paragraph which states that APTG will pursue the policy of Regulation in guiding. I objected that this might mean police officers arresting people for guiding without a qualification which seems to me a horrendous outcome.
A few years ago I took my daughter Julia on a guided walk of Beatles London, across Abbey Road, down Saville row (where they played their last concert) etc. It was fun and quite informative if not a major intellectual experience. The guide, who is a Beatles specialist (bit of an anorak actually), is not badged so this policy would drive him out of work and lead him open to arrest. The publicity for BBGs would be terrible because he would not go quietly and would probably appeal to the courts and through the media. "Driven out of a job I love and have been doing for years by those nasty BBGs!" Sob, sob.
What we do is talk to people, not brain surgery, not dealing with high finance, not anything that the law needs to be involved with. Freedom of speech is too important to compromised like this. Don't go there, guys...