I am officially fuming. Raging. Only, not even the same level of fuming that I was when Plaid Cymru stabbed students in the back with a bit of a smirk. No, I am in a cold rage, because the Labour Party has suggested something which will probably prevent me and hundreds of people from doing something I love almost more than the Liberal Democrats.
I don't know how I've been sleepwalking into this. A while back I blogged about the ridiculous numbers of CRB checks. That was bad enough. Now I'm hearing about the Independent Safeguarding Authority, to prevent "unsuitable" people from working with children and vulnerable adults. They will "gather relevant information", which, according to most people will include hearsay and speculation, even court cases where the person was found innocent.
This is one of the most horrifying organisations I have ever heard of.
Anyway, let me tell you a little about what I love to do when I'm not being a Lib Dem. I am a member of a local group belonging to HCPT, a charity which takes disabled children, or children with social or behavioural problems on a pilgrimage for a week. It is a fantastic week, a week where us adult helpers will do anything to make these children feel loved and special. We push wheelchairs through the streets where hundreds of wheelchairs moved. No child feels as if they stand out during this trip, and rather than hiding them away like we do so often in the UK, we let them see that there is nothing to be ashamed of in having a disability, that it is something to be proud of, something to celebrate.
If I have to go through intrusive checks into my background, I won't be going. And it will leave me absolutely heartbroken. I am terrified that this will happen without organised opposition. And now, it's not because I'm scared of any blot on my character. I've never been in trouble with the law, have only been in detention for having not done homework, and most certainly have never had any convictions or accusations of anything improper. But I'll be damned if I let some grubby civil servant (sorry, civil servants!) go through my life with greasy fingers, trying to pore over every possible imaginable discretion.
This lack of trust cannot be healthy. This constant checking for abusers is never going to do any good. It creates a fear of adults in children, it creates a culture where we are afraid to show affection to children. Do you know that when I smile at a child in the street my first thought is not, "Oh, what a lovely child!" but "Will their mother think I am a paedophile?" That is wrong, it is disgusting. You know, it has come to the point when I stand in a lift looking anywhere but at the child, worried what their parents will say if I make eye contact. Okay, that is an extreme example, but it's true. Did you know that teachers in schools are told they can't hug children in distress?
Rubbish! As a child and a teenagers, I was bullied. Yes, it's not pretty, but I broke down in tears a few times in school. Ouch, that's a bit open, isn't it? Can you imagine how alien and unwanted I would have felt had my teachers not given me a hug and told me it would be alright?
If we are not careful, we will create a generation of children that don't know what hugs feel like, who are terrified of friendly adults. I don't want to live in a world like that. And I certainly don't want to live in a world where the Government's organisation decides what is "unsuitable" or not.
So yes, Labour does hate disabled children. Because if they get their way and this ISA becomes as wide-reaching as it promises to be, I doubt there will be many adults left to look after children at all.
I urge everyone, protest against this sickening example of heavy-handedness. It is not even going to stop abuse, considering the blatant and undisputed fact that most abuse happens within families, or by friends and peers of the child. Cases of abuse by strangers are extremely, extremely rare. There are ways of protecting children from abuse by strangers, and they should be looked at. But creating a massive monster designed to examine us root and branch for possible failure is sickening.
No human is perfect. If we look for imperfections, we will find them in everyone.
If this happens the way it looks like it will, I will be heartbroken. And more than anything... more than anything Labour has ever, ever, ever, ever done, they will have made an enemy of me. Enough of an enemy for me to actually equate them at the same level of the BNP.
If there are any sensible Labour MPs left, please, stop this madness! Will someone please think of the children?
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