Friday 11 September 2009

Guilty until Proven Innocent



Another government initiative to 'protect' children has reared its head. Any adult who has contact with a child on a frequent basis (classed as once a month) or on an intensive basis (3 days or overnight), will be required to register with the new Independent Safeguarding Authority. That means if you participate in the school run then you will be required to register with this new database as an 'intense' contact. If you don't comply fines of up to £5,000 are applicable.

This Authority is to be launched next month and it will be the biggest vetting and clearing system in the world.

The Children's Minister, Delyth Morgan, was grilled by John Humphries on the Today programme. Listen here. She mentions the Soham murders to substantiate this horrendous piece of legislation but surely the present CRB legislation is adequate.

We must all protest at the introduction of this 'anti-pedophile' database. Please join the Facebook protest or start one on any social network you use.

An astonishing 11.3 million people - one adult in four - are likely to come under the watchful eye of the Independent Safeguarding Authority. One of them could be you so please don't think your protest doesn't matter - it does.

This scheme is to run in England but a similar one is to be set up in Scotland.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

SR

Will the act in Scotland be introduced by our own government or be forced upon us by London ?

cynicalHighlander said...

Enjoy this take on it.

http://charlottegore.com/2009/09/11/vetting-and-barring-a-plan-for-ultimate-safety.html

subrosa said...

Thanks for that CH. I saw Charlotte's post after I'd published mine.

She's as good as ever with her cynicism.

subrosa said...

Tris, that I don't know. I just heard on Radio 5 Live, when I was writing the post, that it would be in England and a similar one put in place in Scotland. Will dig around to see what I can find.

Stephen Glenn said...

I agree wholeheartedly SubRosa 25% is a hefty number as I've said here also wasn't it only last month that it was reported that the error rate for these police checks that are currently required more than doubled to 1,570 p.a.

How many more innocents will be branded guilty when 1 in 4 of us have to go through such checks.

JRB said...

Yet more paving slabs on the inexorable road to hell.

subrosa said...

One which has to be stopped JRB. Adults who give family friends a lift will just stop doing it then children will be forced to use public transport and/or walk. Now there's nothing wrong with children walking, but in this day and age it's just not safe in certain places and at certain times of the day.

Jess The Dog said...

The answer is simple.

Mass refusal to co-operate. Whether in England and Wales, or under a Scottish system.

It will render the system unworkable.

Need a slogan:

Parents say No!

subrosa said...

That's what has to happen Jess but I wonder if others will be angry enough to protest.

Anonymous said...

The £5,000 fine will probably convince a large number of people to submit.

Many others will be fearful of being branded a potential paedophile (knowing how injust Britain is right now for the law-abiding).

We need to make a stand en-masse - there's courage to be had from mass sentiment.

Dramfineday said...

excuse me, but does this apply to grandparents and perhaps parents bringing in the kid next door to play with their own kids or is it only intended as work related thing?

Dramfineday said...

excuse me, but does this apply to grandparents and perhaps parents bringing in the kid next door to play with their own kids or is it only intended as work related thing?

Dramfineday said...

help ma boab I've just read the material on the links above and the govt have completely lost it.

Mind you I thought they'd lost it with the introduction of the disclosure stuff - one calculation that never appeared (that I was aware of) was the actual element of risk to kids from strangers as opposed to risks from family members. No knowing the facts I would guess that there was more risk from the family than from strangers. So I was of the opinion that the disclosure act was looking in the wrong place. Anybody got any figs on this?

I think this is a classic - we have the technology so we'd better find something to do with it - scenario punted by some IT "experts". I'm really alarmed that the UK is becoming the most spied on country in the world - and only hope the Scottish Govt have the Chuzpa to kick this into the long grass if it ever gets proposed for here. But poor England, what has she done to deserve a culture of jobsworths like this?

subrosa said...

I completely agree with you Fausty.

How can be bring this to the attention of the mass of adults who are not pedophiles?

So many will think it's a good idea but don't realise it does nothing towards pedophiles being'placed' by in their midst by social services.

subrosa said...

As far as I can see, for the information which has beed public Dram, that's how it is.

Have you listened to the 'Minister' on the today programme?

subrosa said...

Ah Dram, you've read some of the info.

What a sickening bunch we have in government.

Do they think we're all perverts?

They can't even control murderers from abroad getting into tis country yet they now insist we register if we're not parents of children we meet.

What a perverse bunch of politicians we have.

banned said...

When I was about 12-13 a bunch of us used to get two buses to a swimming club in a fairly rough part of north London.
We were collected at about 9pm by someones uncle who used to drive us all home rattling around in the back of his Evening Standard newspaper van; that chap would usually buy us chips on the way home but never offered to show us his pony.
I expect that he would now go to gaol for such outrageous behaviour and swimming would be off thus leaving us hanging around on street corners at the mercy of pimps, drug-pushers, muggers and others who will not be troubling the ISA.

Incidentally, the ISA will seemingly be able to regard Not Guilty verdicts in court as " You got away with it but we've got you sussed, Jimmy ".

subrosa said...

I think many of us had similar experiences banned. Now as you say, children won't be taken to these places.

I notice the silence from the other political parties. Not one has said anything.

brownlie said...

subrosa,

Because of my circumstances I have to fill in a form for an "Advanced Disclosure" check every year. As far as I can recall it only asks for your address for the past ten years. Apparently, therefore, if you have not been caught being naughty for the past ten years you're free to work/associate with very vulnerable children.

subrosa said...

Brownlie

I think you're right. I have to do one for my voluntary work. Somewhere this week I read so many errors are made in the vetting of them.

This database can't be allowed to go ahead. We'll all just have to ignore it then it won't be viable.

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