Another eugenics piece by the Daily Mail: sterilisation on the NHS for the twenties

"Since I’ve never wanted children and firmly believe I never will, the clear solution to me is sterilisation, which these days is a relatively quick procedure under local anaesthetic."

"That recent trip to my GP is not the first time I’ve asked. In fact, I’ve made the request to be sterilised every year since I was 26 — I’m now 29 — and have been refused every time."

"I can’t even get a referral. The response is always: ‘You’re far too young to take such a drastic decision.’..."

"It also doesn’t help that I’ve seen the reality of life with children. I was at home when my little brother and sister were young and I’ve seen how much drudgery was involved: non-stop cooking, washing and cleaning."

"For some, that work is completely worth it, and I have nothing but respect for people who slave away day and night to give their children a good life."

"But if you’ve got no innate desire to raise children, it’s not worth the sacrifice. Nonetheless, parents continually try to persuade me to join the club. ‘My kids are my life!’ they say... and I shudder."

"I want my own life. [For the big corporations. ] I want a career, money, time and energy. I want to be Holly, not Mummy. I want to be able to travel and say ‘yes’ to opportunities without worrying about school catchment areas or baby-sitters..."
 
"The fact is, I’ve spent far longer thinking about not having children than most people do about having them. I’ve considered every aspect, including what will happen if I change my mind." (I really don’t see why I couldn’t foster or adopt).

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3061454/I-know-never-want-children-t-sterilised-20s-Holly-Brockwell-mind-fighting-GPs-refuse-grant-NHS-procedure.html#ixzz3YppyzAnQ

By all means it should be the case that every woman has a right to decide for herself what she will do with her reproductive capacity. There are several means to do that. But ....

This utterly selfish woman is quite prepared to contemplate that at some time in her future she might adopt or foster a child. In other words, without any understanding of the psychological and biological connections between the mother and her child, she is prepared to accept a child from a weeping mother who resists her child being taken from her. Because that is the only child she will get these days.

Meanwhile state agencies are making that easier for her, and her ilk.

Some people may think eugenics is too strong a word for this. Actually, I believe that word is not strong enough.

Amaral is to appeal

"The McCanns partially won their libel action against the author and former lead detective Gonçalo Amaral, but the matter is far from over. "

"Amaral intends to appeal. In his first comment on the verdict he said today: "I find that the court’s decision is unfair and questions my right and every Portuguese citizen's right to freedom of expression and of opinion. For that reason, I do not resign myself to the decision and I will appeal it until the very last judicial instance."

"Apart from Amaral’s assertion on the "unfairness" of the court’s decision, there were two remarkable features about the verdict and the way in which it was announced that got little or no mention in the mainstream media coverage."

"The first unusual aspect was the huge sum awarded. It may be normal in the UK, but not here. Amaral was ordered to pay the parents of Madeleine McCann half a million euros in damages, plus interest, currently calculated at €106,000 and rising."

"Kate and Gerry McCann had sought a total of €1.2 million. In addition to €250,000 each, they claimed €500,000 for Madeleine and €100,000 for each of their twins. The judge ruled against the claims on behalf of the children."

"The McCanns successfully claimed that Amaral’s book, Maddie, the Truth of the Lie, caused them great personal distress. The judge did not agree, however, that the book had hindered the search for Madeleine or had caused damages to the twins."

"Should Amaral on appeal get the verdict overturned, or the compensation figure greatly reduced, the McCanns may lodge a counter appeal. The deadline for appeals is 40 days. The legal battle that has been going on for more than five years looks like continuing for some time yet. "

"A defiant Amaral supporter noted that, "a decision from a Portuguese court can only be enforced after all appeals are exhausted. No money will change hands until a final decision is reached by the very last appeals court." With this in mind, other well-wishers are being urged to make donations to a Gonçalo Amaral defence fund. "

"The second oddity was the way in which the announcement of the verdict was handled. The judge’s ruling was not read out in court. It was contained in a 52-page report, which was received by the McCann’s Lisbon lawyer Isabel Duarte who swiftly passed it on to media organisations in Portugal and abroad."

http://algarvenewswatch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/amaral-to-appeal-mccanns-libel-action.html?spref=tw

See also http://www.mccannfiles.com/id232.html
　

　

Database tracking to be made easier

Currently the Scottish Government and National Records of Scotland (NRS) are consulting on proposals to change regulations that govern what personal information is stored on the National Health Service Central Register ("the NHSCR"), and who that information can be shared with. This consultation is entitled "Consultation on proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006" .

What’s the Problem with this?
The consultation proposes increasing the information held on the NHSCR to include more detailed postcode and address information. It also proposes to allow a whole host of Scottish public bodies (around 120) access to this information. Examples of the bodies who would have access to this information include the Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Scottish Water, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, HMRC, and the Department of Education. The result of this will be to create a Scottish National Identity register.

Tracked across the database state with a unique identifier
The proposed National Identity Register would be linked to Scottish Entitlement Cards through the myaccount system. Both the NHSCR and the myaccount system use the same Unique Citizen Reference Number (UCRN). This is a unique identifier for each citizen that can track them from cradle to death across various database systems. It has all the hallmarks of the UK wide National Identity Register that was established in the Identity Cards Act 2006 and widely opposed at the time. This scheme actually goes further than the Home Office’s defeated scheme as it proposes using this identifier across NHS records as well. The ICO watchdog has warned of the dangers of doing this stating: "The ICO has concerns as to whether there is a sufficient public interest justification. "We do advocate against the creeping use of such unique identifiers to the extent that they could become the national identity number by default.

Linked to entitlement cards
Entitlement cards were established initially to replace bus passes. Since then we have seen a significant amount of administrative ‘function creep’ as to the purposes for which these cards are used. The myaccount system that runs these cards links up to the NHSCR through the same Unique Citizen Reference Number. We think it’s plainly clear these entitlement cards are developing into a fully fledged Scottish National Identity Card .

Read more at NO2id http://newsblog.wp.no2id.net/tag/scottish-identity-database/

Data security. See also https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Discgate
　

　

Classrooms streaming images in real time

Britain’s schools extensively have CCTV but never before have UK schools broadcast real time images from classrooms. ...
Posted by State of Surveillance on Monday, April 6, 2015

Joe Public in Cardiff exposing paedophiles in parliament

Social work practice in an age of austerity

"Many families are moving from deprivation to destitution – dependent on insecure and heavily rationed help from food banks and charitable clothing stores, in awful private sector rented housing. Housing benefit changes have relocated families away from support network. The response to the economic situation has been to cut the help available through, for example, Sure Start."

"At the same time, targets have been set to get more children adopted and adopted more quickly. Target chasing in this area is having a clear impact on social work practice."

Culture of fear and accountability
"Secondly, and in part a consequence of the factors noted above, over the past six years there has been a considerable increase in child protection activity, impinging on social workers and all agencies and professionals working with children and families."

"Section 47 child protection investigations are up by 60%, child protection plans up by 50%, and care proceedings applications up by 104%. The consequence is that workflows have to be rapid and cases closed down quickly if at all possible, otherwise workloads become large, workers stressed and corners cut."

"All of this is within the context of a culture of professional fear fed by serious case reviews, with the government wanting more reviews – each to be publicly available – allocating ‘accountability’ (blame), with Ofsted looming on the horizon to give its damning ratings of ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’..."

"But the situation will become much more tenuous and fragile if the next government continues the current drive towards opening children’s social work up to the market place, with private sector outsourcing companies positioning themselves to grab contracts."

"The market does not generate stability or continuity."

Read more http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/04/28/opening-childrens-social-work-market-place-will-generate-stability-continuity/

Janner's Lawyer thought peer would face child abuse charges.

Amaral loses libel case

Goncalo Amaral

"A Portuguese court ruled that disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral, who ran the initial investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine in 2007, should pay libel damages to the couple following the publication of his book The Truth of the Lie."

"Kate and Gerry McCann were accused in the book of covering up missing Madeleine's death, which they said left them "crushed and devastated".

"The court in Lisbon ruled the book had caused hurt to the family, Sky News reported. Kate said the policeman’s claims left her unable to sleep at night and hampered the hunt for Madeleine, who vanished from the family’s Algarve holiday apartment in 2007."

"The 46-year-old former GP told a court she believed Amaral’s book, The Truth of the Lie, had turned the Portuguese people against the couple. "

"Kate also revealed the policeman’s smears had reached the ears of their nine-year-old son who asked her: "Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine, didn’t he?"

"She was asked previously in the hearing by judge Maria de Melo e Castro about claims she and 45-year-old Gerry dumped Madeleine’s body after she was accidentally killed in their Praia da Luz apartment."

"Kate branded the allegation "far-fetched" and added: "It was about Madeleine being killed and us having moved the body and then storing her in a freezer and then transporting the body in a hire car several weeks later."

"We were so desperate to find Madeleine and I just felt it was destroying our chances."

"Asked how she felt when she first read Amaral’s book, she replied: "I was devastated. It made me feel quite desperate because of injustice I felt towards my daughter and our family." [The book has never been published in English. It is interesting that Kate McCann can read Portuguese ! ]
 
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-win-libel-5598164

It looks like the mainstream media did not check their sources.

From Laid Bare:

"Yesterday, 28th April 2015, the media reported that the McCanns had been awarded varying figures from the damages trial they instigated against Goncalo Amaral. We were very sceptical as to whether the news was genuine, or whether it was simply more dirty tricks from team McCann, the like of which we saw on January 21st 2015, when someone rumoured to be Isabel Duarte, the McCann`s lawyer, told the Lusa News Agency that the McCann`s had won the trial against Goncalo."

"What took us all by surprise yesterday, was that the press were getting these stories before Goncalo`s legal team were. This just didn`t make sense at all, the verdict was always supposed to be sent to both parties in writing."

"So why didn`t Goncalo`s team have the documentation?"

"The answer to that is quite astonishing. Isabel Duarte got her hands on the document before it passed through Citius, the judicial network, she then passed it on to several journalists."

http://laidbareblog.blogspot.co.uk/

See also http://goncaloamaraltruthofthelie.blogspot.co.uk/

Profiling the future workforce

Explore the MY WORLD TRIANGLE for children

 

My grandson brought home a certificate from school and was very keen to show it to me. A certificate I thought. Now what would that be for?   Reading, writing, arithmetic?

Not at all. It was a certificate for good citizenship. It seems that throughout the whole of March he had been very well mannered. A bit over the top I thought. But then I realised we are dealing with Curriculum for Excellence. Any attribute considered by the teacher as demonstrating an outcome will be recognised as an achievement.

From the literature we learn that: "Children and young people achieve success in learning through planned activities in a range of settings and in their lives at home and in their local community. These activities may be provided by youth organisations, clubs and interest groups, in community provision or by activities organised by young people themselves. It is important that, through their involvement in such activities, learners build on progress in the skills and attributes that they are developing. Recognition of as much of their achievement as possible makes learning more relevant and motivating."

Whatever happened to school lessons?

Profiling in Curriculum for Excellence

Assessment is a learning tool according to Curriculum for Excellence in order to explain why it is necessary.  It has come a long way. These days pupils are encouraged to document their progress in their profiles. It will contain all their character building skills and attributes.

A profile is produced in school at P7 and S3 at the moment but the plan is to extend these from age 3 through to 18 and perhaps beyond that. It documents the learner`s best achievements which may include "sporting and cultural successes, skills and attributes developed through experiences in the community as well as achievement in literacy and numeracy and information about progress in key aspects of health and wellbeing."

"As skills in profiling develop, profiles will reflect achievements across all curriculum areas."

The idea is that profiles encourage learners to reflect on their achievements, motivate them and provide skills and understanding to work out next steps in the learning journey. (The learning journey is best understood as the learning that is to be tracked, and nudged.) We are informed that it is the process that is important rather than the product. That might make sense if we recognise profiling as a learning tool - but we must take care - like much  of the explanation about Curriculum for Excellence, this is doublespeak. 
 
CfE Briefing Paper 3: Profiling and the S3 Profile.

We are informed that young people are entitled to support which helps them to understand their progress and achievements. In particular, their relationship with a member of staff who knows them well will enable them to discuss their learning and achievements openly on a regular basis.

Notice how an imposition becomes an entitlement in the language of doublespeak. Skills and attributes are to be discussed that are acquired both inside and outside the school. Conversations will be had about key aspects of health and wellbeing. What would those key aspects be? A clue might be given in the children`s version of the Wellbeing Triangle. (See above)

Statements are often made that the learner needs to take ownership of the profile. Since the profile is about the learner it is difficult to understand this emphasis, unless of course, the learner is expected to succumb to subtle pressure from staff members about who and what they are to become. This is the nudging aspect.

Delve into the literature and things begin to unravel.  To ensure accuracy effective quality assurance and moderation are needed so that the information in the profile is reliable and can validate achievements. Sometimes this may include externally validated content which will help ensure that the profile is recognised and valued by all.

What begins as a learning tool with an emphasis on the process of profiling, rather than the product, becomes something which must be validated so that it can be valued by all. Who are the all who require reliability and validation ?

George Sinclair from Education Scotland made this clear at a seminar  recorded at the Scottish Learning Festival 2014, which aimed to show the vital importance of profiling in helping to meet the needs and develop the employability skills of the full range of learners in the senior phase.

"When children understand their learning they’re able to identify what they have to do next to improve. They’re also able to actually take responsibility for the profiling process and for the production of the profile. I’ve always had this little glimmer in my eye that in terms of Profiling in the Senior Phase that if we get this right then the CV that youngsters produce for jobs and so on and for applications and the UCAS forms actually should become very straightforward and they’re straightforward because learners have already reflected on their learning and they know their strengths."

A profile is the CV, planned and tracked, which children will build from 3 to 18 in dialogue with staff members.  It is the CV that cannot be altered because it was started so early in nursery and primary school that children are not able to understand the implications.  It is everything children`s future employers want to know about them.

Understanding this alters the meaning of lifelong learning and assessment.  

Also see curriculum in Northern Ireland:
http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/foundation_stage/assessment/assessment_for_learning.asp

Mickey Summers on the campaign trail

Mickey Summers, a child abuse survivor of Nottinghamshire care, looking for justice, who put himself forward as a candidate in Nottingham was not given much of an opportunity to question the electioneering panel, as shown above. Tokenistic support was portrayed by some members of the panel.

It is a pity that Mickey Summers makes child abuse a party political issue. It is not. Child abuse is rampant across all political parties. Having said that, any particular party, or group in power, who turns a `blind eye` to child abuse should be thoroughly vilified. It is vested interests, no matter what those are, which govern corrupt people`s behaviour. .

There was no mention of Melanie Shaw, another child abuse survivor,  who blew the whistle on child abuse in Nottinghamshire  and who is still in a private prison without proper representation or support from her MP, Chris Leslie, seen below with Melanie who  once said he would stand by her.

 

These pre-general election days, when questioned by supporters of Melanie Shaw, Chris Leslie refuses to acknowledge their concerns.

 

He does not see it as in his interests to do so I would think.

NSA targets children

Teach em’ young: #NSA targets children with “CryptoKids” coloring books and puzzles
Posted by In the NOW on Monday, April 27, 2015

Delay for child abuse victims

"Child abuse victims yesterday condemned the postponement of a key announcement on a public inquiry until after the General Election."

"Education Secretary Angela Constance had told them she intended to outline the scope of the statutory probe into historic institutional child abuse and who will lead it by the end of this month. Now she says this will be put off until next month as it is ‘crucial we get this absolutely right’. "

"But victims fear the announcement may have been cynically postponed until after the election to avoid an embarrassing backlash from abuse survivors. They are also worried the remit of the inquiry will be narrowed to exclude certain types of abuse."

"The inquiry will investigate historic child abuse within institutions. But the extent of the probe and the precise definition of ‘institution’ are unclear. it is likely to focus mainly on children in care – an estimated 1,000 youngsters were abused in Scottish children’s homes between 1950 and 1995."

"But campaigners point to other potential scandals – including alleged abuse within the Scout movement and claims of a paedophile ring involving senior legal figures in Edinburgh – which may fall outwith the definition of ‘institutional’. "

"Alan Draper of In Care Abuse Survivors said: ‘We don’t know exactly what the reasons for the delay are because we haven’t been told; we have been told unofficially that the announcement may not happen until around the middle of May."

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

14 year old detained on terror offences

"A 14-YEAR-OLD Blackburn boy accused of encouraging a man in Australia to carry out a terrorist beheading and attack a war remembrance event has been remanded in youth detention."

"The teenager, thought to be the youngest charged with Islamist-related terror offences in the UK, was arrested last weekend over an alleged Anzac Day plot."

"He was remanded in custody to youth detention accommodation by District Judge Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London."

"The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was charged yesterday with two counts of inciting terrorism overseas."

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/12913503.Blackburn_teen_remanded_in_custody_over_Anzac_Day____terror_plot___/?ref=rss

A 14 year old boy makes stupid comments on the internet which lead him to being detained on terror offences.  What happened to proportionality and common sense ?

Surveillance worldwide

Join facebook to say NO to the Named Person

SIGN THE PETITION: Join Dee and the many others across Scotland saying no to the Named Person #NO2NP http://no2np.org/ 'LIKE' + 'SHARE'
Posted by NO2NP on Saturday, April 25, 2015

Nicola Sturgeon questioned about Named Person

Ruth Davidson asks a question about the Named Person scheme at about 16 minutes which is defended by Nicola Sturgeon. It is a pity she was not asked a more penetrating question.

Having a rant about vulnerable children is always an easy way to dismiss the opposition.

According to Eric Stoddart in Surveillance and the wellbeing of children and Young people in Scotland, if important concerns about the Named Person are to be addressed, a more nuanced understanding of surveillance is required:

"This paper focuses on the Named Person and the paucity of debate in the parliament around the surveillance dimensions of this role. Politicians—and it seems advocates of the Bill within the social services—conceive of surveillance solely in terms of ‘Big Brother’ and reject this as a caricature of themselves. In the absence of nuanced understanding of surveillance, the surveillance aspects are summarily dismissed."

"The roots of attending to wellbeing, not only welfare, are found in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989. In Scotland, this vision unfolded in a policy of ‘Getting It Right For Every Child’ (GIRFEC) that was piloted in Highland Council with the intention of eventually embedding it in nation-wide practice and legislation. Integral to GIRFEC is a model of wellbeing (encompassing eight distinct, but inter-related, indicators), the ‘my world triangle’ and the ‘resilience matrix’."

"Wellbeing is understood as being safe, being healthy, achieving, being nurtured, being active, being respected, being responsible and being included. The initial letters of the indicators form the acronym SHANARRI. The significant shift in policy is to place an important emphasis on wellbeing, rather than only upon welfare. As part of this development, wellbeing is, for the first time, given a statutory definition (SHANARRI)—part 13 of the Bill...

The controversy around the Named Person service has lain not in its role in the welfare of particular children at risk but in the Named Person’s place within a system that watches out for all children’s wellbeing. Government ministers—and indeed other supportive politicians and lobbyists—studiously avoid the word ‘surveillance’ but, as we will see, prefer terms such as ‘the bigger picture’ or ‘pieces of the jigsaw’; all such references are located within a discourse of responsible care. ..."

"Whilst supporters of the Named Person talked about early intervention not being the same as early compulsion (SP OR EC 3 September 2013, col. 2701) and the Minister emphasised a light touch regime (SP OR EC 8 October 2013, col. 2945), some did not help to assuage parental anxieties over intrusion into family life with statements such as that of Alex Cole-Hamilton (Aberlour Child Care Trust), ‘if a child presents and their indicators in the SHANARRI triangle are not being met, we need to act’ (SP OR EC 10 September 2013, col. 2726). It is unlikely that critics of the Named Person concept would have found much to quell their concerns when the government’s official GIRFEC magazine carried an article in its August 2013 issue entitled ‘Parents as Partners in GIRFEC’ (Woolnough 2013)."

" In a magazine clearly aimed at the community, rather than welfare or educational professionals, such a title could be misconstrued to present GIRFEC looming over parents. Parenting, so this article’s title could imply, is to be subject to GIRFEC. Enlisting parents to GIRFEC subtly shifts the balance of power towards the system at the expense of families. (It is important to remember that GIRFEC is about wellbeing, not only the welfare of children. Evaluating parenting in terms of the welfare of children is supported universally; testing against wellbeing is potentially much more contentious.)"

"The only MSP who acknowledged surveillance language was Fiona McLeod (SNP) who seemed genuinely shocked that any credible concerns could draw on this discourse. Speaking in the final debate after which the Bill was passed McLeod observed: "

Some of the emails I have received have bordered on the offensive. Indeed, some of them talked about ‘state surveillance’, ‘1930s Nazi Germany’, and ‘Big Brother’. I have to wonder whether some of those emails have been orchestrated. (SP OR 19 February 2014, col. 27793)

"The politics of wellbeing are discussed in the Scottish Parliament with a weak understanding of surveillance, resulting in the too-ready dismissal of concerns. The Parliament’s failure to interrogate SHANARRI meant that this discourse was placed beyond criticism. Whilst SHANARRI will find considerable, and warranted, support it should not be considered apolitical and incontrovertible. SHANARRI expresses a particular vision of wellbeing. If this is not acknowledged then Statutory Guidance on the thresholds of wellbeing (as distinct from welfare) will not adequately respect the legitimate range of interpretations of concepts. "

"As Lynne Wrennall has observed, the notion of a child being ‘at risk’ is far from a stable category. Whereas for some it might more precisely raise a flag of concern about abuse or neglect the ‘risk’ could rather too-readily be ‘redefined to mean, a child at risk of not meeting the government’s objectives for children’ (Wrennall 2010). In order to avoid the unwanted attentions of the Named Person service such families (with nothing to hide except their non-exact coherence to SHANARRI), will have to comply or find themselves ‘dangerised’. The extent to which a family has the social/cultural capital to negotiate between the expectations of the Named Person service and their own, perhaps but not necessarily, idiosyncratic approach to parenting is worthy of future discussion."
 
"The issue of thresholds of wellbeing are hugely significant for the intervention by a Named Person who perceives a cluster of jigsaw pieces to be forming a picture of harm to a child or young person’s wellbeing. This raises questions over what information a Named Person will need to collect about each young person. In other words, what isolated jigsaw pieces, that are of no consequence in themselves, will be required to be recorded lest—at some time in the future—a picture of harm were to emerge?"

"The nature of the information was scarcely discussed during the consideration of the Bill. The focus was upon the appropriate sharing of what had already been authorised for collection. Furthermore, it remains unclear how information is to be retained. Where is the box of accumulating jigsaw pieces to be kept so that it can be passed to successive Named Persons? The impression conveyed by supporters of the Named Person service is that, generally, four figures are in play, consecutively the midwife, health visitor, primary school Named Person then secondary school Named Person. But, as everyone knows, staff move, become ill, retire and resign. If the Named Person service is to function (with its individually insignificant jigsaw pieces) then how these are retained to be passed to the next Named Person is a significant issue. In a school with a high turnover of senior staff this could be a quite frequent scenario. The proposal for the development of Statutory Guidance (as at April 2014) makes it clear that ‘information will not automatically follow the child’ but will be subject to a number of tests:"

"that it is likely to be relevant; that it ought to be shared; that the holder of the information has, where practicable, elicited the views of the child; and that the sharing will not produce a greater adverse effect on the child’s wellbeing than not sharing."

(Scottish Government 2014: para. 32)

"It is all well and good to have rhetoric that asserts the safety and wellbeing of Scotland’s children and young people to be of paramount importance—but such loose talk is problematic. As a primary consideration it would warrant enthusiastic support but not trumping all other rights. This might not be the intention of the Scottish government or welfare service professionals but precision is vital. The Parliament’s attenuated understanding of surveillance, conceiving of it solely in ‘Big Brother’ terms has led legislators to easily dismiss important concerns over the Named Person service."

https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/6221/1/Stoddart_2015_SS_Named_CC.pdf

Poverty isn`t destiny when we have parenting programmes !

Here is a very muddled article from Duncan McNeil MSP, convener of the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee

 "Are you familiar with the work of Danny Dorling? He’s a social geographer, but don’t let that put you off. One of his books is called Unequal Health: The Scandal Of Our Times. Professor Dorling tells a story about speaking at a conference in Norway at which he began by praising the delegates for having the lowest levels of child poverty in the world. So how do you think the audience reacted? Polite applause, some coughing, a few whoops? No, he was met with a shout of: "It’s too high!"

"The response was anger, says Dorling, which helped to create "a solidarity state". I like the sound of that. The opposite of indifference to the suffering of others – of what Nye Bevan described as "social blindness". A solidarity state "

"It suggests a society brought together by connectedness and a sense of belonging, based on inclusion and compassion, and in which the currency that counts is the currency of trust. Fanciful? Sometimes I fear so. Particularly when in-work poverty is rising, when an estimated 940,000 households are living in fuel poverty – 39% of our homes – and when the health gap between postcodes is ever widening..."
 
"Poverty isn’t destiny," said Sir Michael. Sir Harry enthused about the early years collaborative, the family nurse partnership and the positive parenting plan. If a policy is shown to work, to make a difference to people’s lives, we should pursue it. If not, we move on. Together. In solidarity."

Read more at http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/health-and-social-care/blogs/health-inequality-diminishes-us-all#W2CpL1WELsr17Zcv.99

The implication is that parenting programmes, such as the family nurse partnership (FNP), are ways to help families out of poverty.

Anneliese Dodds in Families ‘At Risk’ and the Family Nurse Partnership: The Intrusion of Risk into Social Exclusion Policy has a different view:

"(We) are witnessing a change in social policy, to the extent that this is driven by the [Social Exclusion Unit] with an increasing focus on those individuals who are deemed ‘at risk’ and on building up those individuals’ ‘resilience’ to risks."

"The FNP can be seen as an appropriate policy in this context. The FNP does not offer mothers any additional funds or resources, and it does not create for them any new opportunities. Instead, it aims to educate mothers how to bring up their children more successfully, and how to improve their own job prospects, in the process making them more resilient.."

"This article has considered why the FNP has been promoted as a new policy to tackle social exclusion in the UK. It has detailed how proponents of the FNP link its operation to reduced ‘risks’ of everything from kidney problems to promiscuity, and explicitly propose that the new scheme should be focused on those ‘at risk’. The FNP thus fits with the SEU’s new focus on enabling individuals to become ‘resilient’ to the risks that they face, not necessarily through providing extra resources or tackling structural barriers, but through the exhortation and encouragement of professionals."

"This approach may, however, have limited impact in a context of constrained resources. Merely teaching young mothers how to keep their children safe and healthy will have few benefits if those mothers are unable to afford the time to supervise their children or to travel out of the community, if necessary, to shop for healthy food; or the money to pay for safety equipment and nutritious groceries."

"A similar point can be made with regard to transitions into paid work. Numerous studies have indicated that the long-term unemployed are as willing to undertake retraining and to enter paid work as the rest of the population: indeed, they may even be more motivated than the employed population."

 
"Instead of acknowledging the need for increased support for those living on low incomes, the US welfare system has increasingly become entwined with moral aspirations to manufacture ‘better’ clients and citizens (Soss, 2005). The SEU`s focus on individually based, therapeutic approaches, exemplified by the FNP, suggests that British welfare policy may be leaning in the same direction."

 
https://research.aston.ac.uk/portal/files/385004/Families_at_risk_and_the_family_nurse_partnership.pdf

Compensation for victims of swine flu vaccine

"The swine flu vaccine caused severe brain damage in over 800 children across Europe, and the UK government has now agreed to pay $90 million in compensation to those victims as part of a vaccine injury settlement."

"Across Europe, more than 800 children are so far known to have been made ill by the vaccine," reports the International Business Times."

"The vaccine caused narcolepsy and cataplexy in hundreds of children. Both are signs of neurological damage caused by vaccine additives which include mercury, aluminum, MSG, antibiotics and even formaldehyde."

As the IBTimes reports:

"Narcolepsy affects a person's sleeping cycle, leaving them unable to sleep for more than 90 minutes at a time, and causing them to fall unconscious during the day. The condition damages mental function and memory, and can lead to hallucinations and mental illness."
"Cataplexy causes a person to lose consciousness when they are experiencing heightened emotion, including when they are laughing."

"Back in 2009, the Norwegian health authorities urged everyone, not just at-risk groups, to receive vaccinations after the World Health Organization designated swine flu a pandemic."

http://www.naturalnews.com/049423_swine_flu_vaccine_brain_damage_financial_compensation.html#

14 year old girl taken by police to US

"A 14-year-old Mexican girl who was grabbed by police while at school and taken to the US by mistake has been returned to her family."

 

"The moment Alondra Luna Nunez was taken was captured on video where she is seen screaming as officers push her into a police vehicle in the central state of Guanajuato."

"The images went viral on social media and gripped Mexico.
Alondra was then flown to Texas, to a woman who thought she was her daughter."

"But a DNA test on the girl has proved they are not related - and she has finally been allowed to go back to her real parents."

"Ask me all the questions you want tomorrow. Right now, I want to be with my parents," Alondra told a group of journalists who were waiting for her on her arrival at Guanajuato airport."

 

 http://news.sky.com/story/1470578/girl-taken-to-us-in-mistaken-identity-case

Crown Prosecution Service is orchestrating a whitewash

"Leading politicians from seven parties have come together to attack the decision not to prosecute Lord Janner over child abuse and accused the CPS of orchestrating a 'whitewash'. "

"Putting the election aside, 11 leading figures said that Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders was ‘damaging public confidence’ in the justice system with her ruling." 

Alison Saunders head of Crown Prosecution Service
 

"The CPS has been accused of double standards for not prosecuting Lord Janner after it emerged at least 19 men with dementia have been convicted of child sex offences since 2010, including ten in the past year."

"MailOnline has revealed that some paedophiles, including several too ill to enter a plea, have still been prosecuted and in some cases jailed for the rest of their lives because of historic sex attacks..."

"Mrs Saunders announced last week that 86-year-old Labour peer Lord Janner, who has dementia, would not face trial over 22 serious offences against nine alleged victims in Leicestershire, from the 1960s to the 1980s..."

"Mrs Saunders’ decision has already drawn criticism from Home Secretary Theresa May. Police are considering a legal challenge, and Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, a former director of public prosecutions, has also questioned the decision."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3049851/Senior-MPs-attack-failure-charge-Janner-abuse-Politicians-sides-election-aside-demand-decision-reversed-amid-concerns-whitewash.html1

Some comments:

 "The same Theresa May who voted against a proposal to grant immunity from prosecution under the Official Secrets Act to anyone giving evidence of historic child abuse? "

"If Theresa May is so concerned, how come she has no problem with the dozens of Sealed records (75 years) pertaining to dozens of care homes and orphanages. She's part of the problem."

See also post below about Lord Janner`s `leave of absence` letter received 9 April 2015.

https://theneedleblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/lord-janner-letter-i-understand/

Significant rise in gender identity issues

"SCOTLAND'S only specialist NHS service to help children with gender identity issues has seen a "significant rise" in referrals over the past decade, including helping youngsters aged under five.

The Gender Identity Clinic, based at the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow, supports under-18s across Scotland who are experiencing transgender feelings."

"It assists parents and children by offering assessment and counselling services and youngsters over the age of 16 can be offered hormone treatment to delay puberty. Sex-change operations are only available to adults over the age of 18."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/rise-in-number-of-transgender-children-in-scotland.122953159

Gender identity issues are covered in sex education at school which may account for the significant rise in referrals. Whatever the case may be, raising the issue in school is bound to have some impact.

As for pre-school children, how anyone can diagnose a child under five with a gender issue, I do not know. At that age children play act and can be whatever they want to be. How does that turn into a problem?

Jon Snow asks Is student debt worth it ?

Hampstead Satanic Child Abuse

​See video http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pkb73
The Hampstead Satanic Child Abuse case is a very strange one but when the BBC gets involved, knowing its penchant for propaganda, my suspicions are raised.

Ricky D.. is interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire about the allegations made against him by his two children. In real life he is a two bit actor who looks like he is putting on the worst performance of his life.

Instead of trying to squeeze out tears, why is he not indignant or angry at an injustice?   To me, he is attempting to portray the wrong emotion. Whatever the truth of the matter, the BBC has done Ricky D.. no favours by putting out this video.

The case is being analysed endlessly and the video is now another piece of evidence to scrutinise.

See https://butlincat.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/hampstead-sra-r-dearman-bbc-interview-with-the-alleged-paedo-father-20042015/

Parental involvement in schools

The Scottish Parliament has passed the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 - to encourage and support more parents to become involved.

The main aims of the Parental Involvement Act are to:
help parents become more involved with their child's education and learning
welcome parents as active participants in the life of the school
provide easier ways for parents to express their views and wishes

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2006/09/07091216/1

The Education and Culture Committee met 31 March 2015 to discuss how parents and schools could best work together to raise the attainment of all pupils particularly those at the lower end of the scale.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=9892&mode=pdf

MSP Siobhan McMahon reminded the committee that Renfrewshire Council had said in their submission that there was "no evidence that parental involvement alone raises attainment". The Poverty Alliance reported mixed views but highlighted one comment that "the Parental Involvement Act has actually widened inequalities as more confident parents took control while others were pushed to the side."

It was agreed that it was the least confident and engaged parents who most needed support.

Our biggest challenge is the parents who did not respond to the survey. Many parents are not engaged, and it is their voices that are most relevant to this session. (Ellen Prior: Scottish Parent Teacher Council)

We should target those most in need if we want to make a difference in the attainment gap...We have a parenting strategy to roll out parenting support. Parents objected to the idea of the offered support because it seemed to be stigmatising, so we are now trying to badge things as `opportunities for parents`. It may seem to be a moot point, but the language with which we try to engage parents is very important; we have to get the language right and offer opportunities across the board, so that the support is not targeted but universal. (Shona Crawford: West Dunbartonshire Council.)

The idea of universal services being imposed on the population in order to manage the few is reminiscent of the named person scheme. That the language has been carefully crafted in the literature about the named person is no doubt true also.

Despite Siobhan McMahon`s reservations that parental involvement does not necessarily improve attainment, the general consensus was that it did. Yet attainment itself proved difficult to pin down.

On the point about how we measure attainment, we ran a working group last year that produced the document Sharing Learning, Sharing Assessment: Report for Parents. A lot of parents did not know where their kids were in broad general education. In the old system, with A to E grades, they knew exactly where they were, but now they do not know which strands their child is working on." (Eileen Prior (Scottish Parent Teacher Council)

It does not help that teachers do not understand the new system either. Curriculum for Excellence, with its plethora of `outcomes and experiences`, personalised learning and continuous assessments is hardly accessible to parents who engage, never mind those who do not.

In any case, the committee decided that attainment is not just about qualifications.

In many schools it is evident that they celebrate wider achievement. There are all sorts of outdoor activities, such as forest schools and nurture groups to meet the needs of the wide variety of children. The challenge for schools is to get parents to understand the benefits of all those activities, because some parents are still very focused on exam results. (Shona Crawford)

Part of it is about selling to teachers what parental engagement can achieve. That is not just about better exam results and higher attention rates but about pupils behaving better, attending more regularly, adapting better and having better networks...We need to change the nature of the dialogue so that attainment is not everything and it is about wider achievement and participation in the school community. (Dr Morton)

We need to educate the parents and everybody else in the country, including employers, or things will change only when my daughter has a child going through school, because her experience is different. (Iain Ellis) [Yes, that`s the idea ! ]

So the committee meets to discuss how parents and schools can work together to improve all children`s attainment but during the discussion this changes from all children to disadvantaged children. At the same time, attainment is not about educational attainment at all, but nebulous ideas about outdoor activities, nurture groups, forest schools, behaviour, attendance, adapting better and having better networks. Never mind how this is supposed to be defined and measured. Parents should engage.

At the end of it, ultimately the parent wants the confidence to be the best parent that they can be for their child. That is what draws people to organisations that support them. They know they need it and that they are vulnerable. [Do they ? ]

However, there might be something more to do population-wide, along the lines of saying, " Well, actually, you should be involved." The norm should be that parents are involved. (Jackie Tolland)

I certainly agree with that. I was hoping that some sort of expectation would be built into the increase in hours for the early years. I know that a lot of that increase is about enabling parents to get off to work, but many of our parents are not in work. I would like to see an expectation that they will become involved with their child in nursery. (Shona Crawford)

At what point does `expectation` become `compulsion`?

It is obvious that the committee is more interested in `parenting` than it is in the education of children at school. There is a shocking statistic which they do not mention and that is that twenty percent of children leave school unable to read fluently. Many of them are boys. If they were really interested in closing the attainment gap there is one intervention that could make all the difference: Teach children to read.

The teaching method that works is well understood; so there is no excuse for that shocking statistic. Unfortunately this is a committee with a different agenda.

See http://www.wikireadia.org.uk/index.php?title=The_Clackmannanshire_synthetic_phonics_programme

Abuse of pupils at Oakwood School

The old Oakwood School in Stowmarket.

"Pupils at Oakwood School, Stowmarket, who were described as "vulnerable" as they had been sent to the school because they had educational and behavioural problems, were allegedly repeatedly subjected to physical ill treatment including slaps to the face, punches and kicks, Ipswich Crown Court heard."

"Several boys complained of being force fed if they didn’t finish their meals and then being forced to eat food covered in vomit if they were sick, claimed Jacqueline Carey, prosecuting."

"One boy allegedly suffered a fractured wrist after the deputy head Gerald West grabbed his hand and bent it backwards so hard he heard it snap and another child allegedly suffered a fractured skull after a teacher pushed his head against a wall."

"Miss Carey said the boy allegedly recalled hospital staff being told he had tripped up and caused the injury himself."

"Another alleged victim claimed he was pushed into a swimming pool by a teacher who knew he couldn’t swim and another alleged he lost two fingernails after a teacher slammed a door on his hand."

"Another pupil who had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumour claimed a teacher, who was aware of his medical history, had smacked his head into a wall and had thrown a cricket ball at his head."

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/teacher_at_old_oakwood_school_in_stowmarket_allegedly_bent_pupils_wrist_backwards_so_it_snapped_court_hears_1_4034946

National task force to be set up in Scotland to tackle child sex abuse

"A national task force set up to tackle child sex abuse in Scotland will be formally launched later."

Stephen House

"Police Scotland Chief Constable Stephen House and Education Minister Angela Constance will unveil the National Child Abuse Investigation unit."

"The unit, in Livingston, has been set up to support local divisions in the investigation of child sexual abuse."

"Child sexual exploitation - current and historical - and online investigations will also be the focus of the team."

"The creation of the unit was announced in October in response to concerns following the child sex exploitation revelations in Rotherham."

"The charity Barnardo's Scotland warned that child sex exploitation was a "severe problem" and said that lessons must be learnt from Rotherham in Scotland."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-32366727

For those of us who have followed the Hollie Greig case and recall that Robert Green has been imprisoned twice, sentenced to 250 hours community service and gagged for life from speaking in public about what happened to a vulnerable Downs syndrome girl in Aberdeen, it is difficult to have faith in the national task force being set up to tackle child sex abuse.

The Scottish justice system does not understand that investigating child sex abuse requires interviewing suspects, examining computers, paying heed to expert witnesses and safeguarding all the evidence. Silencing whistlelblowers is not the answer. 

Peter Hayman file hidden for more than thirty years

If you're a parent, you NEED to SHARE this...** EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ** - THIS NEEDS TO GO VIRAL SO THAT EVERYONE IN THE UK KNOWS THAT THIS GOVERNMENT IS SPECIFICALLY HIDING FILES RELATING TO PAEDOPHILE RINGS IN WESTMINSTER IN ORDER TO TRY AND STOP US REBELLING. THESE PEADOPHILE RINGS CROSS OVER EVER PUBLIC POSITION OF AUTHORITY IN THIS LAND... FROM LORDS; TO MP's; POLICE OFFICERS; JUDGES; BARRISTERS; SOCIAL WORKERS ETC... IT'S SICKENING WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING... AND PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO COVER IT UP!!!!!!!!! :-(SO IF YOU DO *ONE* THING TODAY, PLEASE ***SHARE THIS SHORT VIDEO*** SO PEOPLE ARE AWARE. WE NEED EVERYONE TO KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.WHEN CHILDRENS 'CHARITIES' ARE NOT PUSHING FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY... YOU THEN HAVE TO START QUESTIONING WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON... :-/ISPCC Childline HAS BEEN HEAVILY CRITICISED FOR FAILING TO REPORT WIDESPREAD ORGANISED ABUSE IN SCHOOLS AND CHILDRENS HOMES ACROSS THE UK... IN 2006 CHILDLINE MERGED WITH THE NSPCC, ANOTHER CHILDRENS CHARITY THAT HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF 'NOT DOING ENOUGH' TO EXPOSE CHILD ABUSE... NOT TO MENTIONS ITS LINKS TO THE PAEDOPHILE / NECROPHILIAC Jimmy Saville ***** THE GOVERNMENT IS REFUSING TO NAME THE TITLES OF FOUR SECRET DOCUMENTS THAT COULD HOLD VITAL INFORMATION FOR THE CHILD ABUSE INQUIRIES ***WE NEED YOU, THE PEOPLE TO *SHARE THIS* SO THAT WE CAN GET EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE UK TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.It comes less than 24 hours after Home Secretary Theresa May promised that Government departments would be more transparent... She's a hypocritical liar and we can't trust her at all.On Wednesday the Cabinet Office's Francis Maude MP said: "Officials have identified four additional relevant files, one of which was marked for destruction pending further checks by the Cabinet Office and The National Archives."These files are being shared with the inquiry, the Hart inquiry, the relevant departments, and the Metropolitan Police Service."However the names of the four new files are not being shared with the public.When approached by Sky News to release the titles of the documents the Cabinet Office refused, saying "they are confidential files".While the content of the files may be sensitive, refusing to reveal the names means the public has no way of tracking which files they are or how they are now dealt with.Campaigner Marilyn Hawes, founder of Enough Abuse UK, told Sky News: "Political parties and those in power just don't get it."Enough is enough and we the public are not tolerating this anymore. Westminster need to show the public and the abused some respect."The Cabinet Office ARE KEEPING FILES AWAY FROM US ON THE GROUNDS OF "NATIONAL SECURITY"... MEANING... If we uncover what's REALLY happening in parliament with these peadophiles that are currently running our country... Then The UK Revolution... Will be inevitable... They'd be uproar...After the 'good eggs' Tom Watson, Jim Hood MP and Simon Danczuk raised the issues of these paedophiles in the House of Commons, Government officials were forced to release some documents to the National Archives...The former British diplomat Peter Hayman was revealed as the subject of the new secret file - the papers documented his "unnatural" sexual behaviour... THIS ABUSE IS IN ALL GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD... MORE INFORMATION IS BEING RELEASED DAILY SHOWING THE HUGE WEB OF SATANIC RITUALS THAT THESE SICK BEINGS ENGAGE IN... Crucially the file, along with the four newly discovered ones, was not handed over to the Wanless Review...This is a Home Office sanctioned review led by NSPCC boss Peter Wanless that searched for official documents which may be relevant to the child abuse inquiries... Ms Hawes added: "Of all organisations the NSPCC should push for the disclosure of the four 'newly' found files and should be leading from the front for those who have, are and will suffer from child abuse."Justice Goddard is past Chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority and now sits in the Wellington High Court. Officially, she has overseen significant change, as the Authority publicly portrayed itself as a transparent investigative and reviewing agency of serious complaints against the Police. The reality is different. Justice Goddard held up and concealed a number of serious complaints against police. Many have never been made public. An infamous example of one which has is police prevention of a peaceful protest against a 1999 trip to New Zealand by the Chinese President. Goddard’s report, while agreeing with the Internal Affairs finding that the police action was unjustified, was not issued until eight years later.When deputy Solicitor General, Lowell Goddard refused to release evidence that former judge Michael Lance was guilty of perverting justice in a police prosecution of his son Simon’s business partner, claiming it was not in the public interest to allow the prosecution. The police inspector at the time sought release of the file, which Goddard and John McGrath refused. Judge Lance later became Goddard’s deputy judge at the IPCA – demonstrating a level of audacity which is rare, even by New Zealand standards. Lance retired in disgrace shortly afterward when it was reported he was keying cars parked in front of his Takapuna apartment. (Lance was prosecuted in a judge alone trial in 2010 and let off by Judge Kevin Phillips. British tourists who witnessed the offending and returned to give evidence were deemed untrustworthy by the trial Judge).Insiders concede the IPCA became a more opaque and political agency under Justice Goddard, with legal exemptions asserted to prevent disclosures of information under the Official Information Act and Privacy Act. Much of the agency’s work is cloaked by tight secrecy.Justice Goddard is believed to be the first Maori woman to have served as a High Court Judge. She has also sat as a member of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal.As a lawyer, Justice Goddard defended and prosecuted in a number of homicide and other serious criminal trials, and acted as counsel assisting tribunals and Commissions of Inquiry, including the Cartwright inquiry into allegations concerning the treatment of cervical cancer at National Women’s Hospital in New ZealandIn 2009, Justice Goddard gave a speech to the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference. An abstract of her speech is provided immediately below this profile.Lawyers who appear before Justice Lowell Goddard generally have little regard for her as a judge who is willing to conform to law or to rule consistent with relevant facts. They are far more impressed with her impeccable dress and makeup.Justice Goddard scored dead last in the 2014 survey of New Zealand judges, with many lawyers dismissing her competency and hypocritical stances in support of human rights.In early 2015, Goddard was appointed to head a United Kingdom inquiry into child sexual abuses after two previous appointees resigned under pressure. The Guardian cited Goddard’s experience with similar cases in New Zealand. Perhaps more telling was Goddard’s response to the Guardian, “The inquiry will be long, challenging and complex.”THIS WOMAN IS NOT THE PERSON WE WANT LEADING THIS INVESTIGATION!!!! PLEASE SHAREAnonymous #OpDeathEaters
Posted by Wesley P P Hall on Friday, February 6, 2015