Just had a reply from Paul over in another area.
And the last part really caught my eye.
That's a really good point Paul, even after anything is deemed unsafe or not good, things like these can hang around in places for years after the fact!.
There are thousands of Transformers here that are full of Askerels and PCB's, but they still work, so who cares?.
We are to a certain extent still getting rid of Lead pipes in houses here and also although it was banned years ago, lead flashing still seals God knows how many houses, up until a few years back some of these houses used to drink the run-off from the roofs!.
It's all one big mess, ban it and watch it disappear instantly, eh?.

There are still plenty of old houses here with a lead water service pipe, and you'll certainly still see plenty of lead used as flashing on roofs and gutters (I have some on mine!).

What I find annoying though is where scare tactics are used to try to make somebody upgrade their house to meet current regs. over some trivial little thing. For example, the fact that the earth wires were not normally sleeved in outlet boxes in older installations whereas sleeving is a requirement now, hardly makes that old system dangerous, does it?

Good Lord Paul!
The typical English trying to do things on the cheap!.
I'm not laughing though Paul, we had the very same cable over here and it is still in a lot of 60's-70's houses here. only thing is it's starting to leak Green plasticiser slime, these days and for God sakes, don't get it on your skin or in a open cut!, if you do wash it off as quick as you can!.