Schools & Sex Offenders
Can me naive, but I always thought that ‘99’ was a type of ice cream & not some secret squirrel government list of perverts. Then again, to a simple soul such as your humble correspondent, I would have thought that this would have been quite a relatively open & shut issue … name on the sex offenders register = you are not going to even get an interview for a teaching job, let alone work with one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Not so in my little Toni’s cool Britannia, nor in the interests of political expediency.
Now that Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has been caught red headed OK’ing the employment of sex offenders, the Nu Labour blame deflection machine has gone into overdrive in a desperate attempt to keep Kelly in her job, as Blah seeks to shore up his faltering regime, in the face of the long awaited Brownite Night of Long Knives. Under normal circumstances Kelly would have been consigned to the political dustbin of the backbenches last week, but princess Toni currently needs anyone whose support that he can rely on, in cess pit of mediocrity that constitutes his cabinet.
With a whole raft of proposed education reforms whizzing down the tracks, the last thing that embattled Blah needs, is to have one of his most ardent supporters tinned; especially the Secretary of State for Education. As old labour lefties, who fear personal choice for parents more than just about anything else, are starting to bay for Kelly’s head on a stick. This scandal couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Government.
So Kelly announces that there is going to be a full investigation going back 30 years into similar cases in an attempt to justify her decisions in the light of those taken by her predecessors. After nine years of Nu Labour’s gesture politics, the long suffering British public has become tired & largely immune to whatever is the latest weaseldom to emanate from the backside of Westminster ,but this is a new low.
The fact that ministers are to be stripped of the power to make these controversial decisions, with further changes likely, has been welcomed. But the issue may already have gone beyond that. There appears to be a widespread feeling amongst parents and teachers that no one convicted or cautioned of any sex offence should be allowed access to children under any circumstances. Adopting such a blanket, potentially unjust law, might land the government with further problems - challenges under human rights laws seeming the most obvious - and lead to claims of witch hunts. But debate on this has now boiled down to some pretty simple emotions and, as a result, equally straightforward demands - keep sex offenders away from children.
Despite that legitimate concerns of parents & teachers, our politicians continue to patronise the country. Many are asking why the Education Secretary doesn’t simply ban anyone on the sex offenders register from any involvement with children. If there were any legal challenges from mealy mouthed pondlife ‘human rights’ lawyers, then why not transfer a one of these ‘offenders’ to their children’s school & see how quickly the petition is withdrawn. Sensible?
Interesting that we the long suffering taxpayer that fund the failing public education with vast sums of our money seem to have no say on something such as not having our children exposed to sex offenders in schools – all because it suits Blah’s political agenda not to allow us to have a say. It says more about his scruples that anything else. I just wonder how St Toni & the ever ghastly Cheri would like to have say a couple of convicted sex offenders teaching their children??
Comments
Sounds like a typical Democrat dodge over here.
What we here in the USA would LOVE to see is the abolition of the Department of Education. That the hiring of personnel is left to the local school districts and boards...that the taxpayers have more control over who teaches their children.
Then again, is homeschooling legal in the UK?
Posted by: Cricket | January 17, 2006 7:25 PM
Homeschooling IS legal but so many obstacles are put in the way and they inspect you every two minutes to try and find fault and force the kids back into the indoctrination system (oops meant school)
List 99 is a major problem actually; you can end up on it without any trial, no criminal record or legal justification. A mere 'intelligence reports that' or a nasty Policeman/Social Worker whose son was hit by yours at football can get you on List 99. And when you then get suspicious as to why you never get a job you cannot ask if you ARE in fact on the list and even then they don't have to tell you. It has been a major source of injustice for years but for some reason the BBC etc are OK with this. Shades of blacklists and McCartneyism.....
I hasten to add that I'm not on it (so far as I know...)
Posted by: Dave t | January 18, 2006 7:36 PM
McCartneyism! Obla-dee-obla-daa! Almost as bad as McCarthyism! ;-)
Posted by: -keith in mtn. view | January 18, 2006 9:57 PM