ANOTHER U-TURN - 13 December 2009

I remember Margaret Thatcher who at the Conservative Party Conference on 10th October in 1980 was being pressed to change her policies on the economy said "you turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!" What a difference from the Government of today who turn at the slightest opposition to some of their ill thought-out policies. Don't misunderstand me, I am not against them changing their minds, I just wish that they would think them through properly so that they don't have to change their minds thus saving us all a great deal of money.

You may remember in my blog on 21 September entitled "Has this government lost the plot?", I questioned, like so many, the need for so many people to be vetted if they are working with children or young people. It comes as no surprise that Mr Balls has announced after review of his own policy, which was passed into law with little parliamentary debate. If implemented the law would have resulted in eleven million people having to register with a new agency and undergo criminal records checks. The new watered down version will result in an estimated two million fewer people having to register.

Opposition to the original policy came in from teachers, parents, youth workers and those giving up their time in voluntary organisations and sports clubs involving young people, as well as those just going into schools to give talks. It is reported that a source at the Department for Children, Schools and Families has stated that the original plans had unintended consequences. Mr Balls said on the Andrew Marr Show this morning (13 Dec) that he wanted a common sense way of making sure children were safe from people who do terrible things. The stupidity of the whole debacle is that no checks, even the watered down one will achieve that!

The watered down rules are still odd. Strange that now you are to allowed to host a youngster in your home for less that 28 days without registering, but you are required to register if you are helping at a club by giving a lift to other children once a week!

The scheme as author Philip Pullman has highlighted in his opposition is based on the feeling that you can't trust anyone. The Manifesto Club, a civil liberties group commented that even in the watered down version, the assumption is that we are all potential pedophiles until proven otherwise. Certainly the impression given is that we are all guilty until proven to be innocent, not healthy of any society where trust is at the root of most of what we do.

Not all of us are like this government who have proven that they can't be trusted, referendum on Europe for example; reasons for taking the country to war in Iraq or even what is really in the pre-budget report!

In a time when the government need to save massive sums of money why not get rid of this stupid law altogether as is fails to do what it says on the tin. It may reduce the risk of convicted pedophiles applying to work near children, although as we have seen does not prevent it, but it does nothing to prevent potential pedophiles from their involvement, but then what can?

When will this government learn that what most of us want is less interference in our lives not more?