There’s no V (for vulnerable) in GIRFEC
http://www.schoolhouse.org.uk
Thank you to everyone who has supported our petition which has now gathered 1165 signatures over the past month from those who do not believe the Scottish Parliament has the right, or legislative competence, to introduce what amounts to a national identity register via a Trojan horse Bill cleverly disguised in child protection clothing.
The mainstream and social media have been picking up on those aspects of the Children and Young People Bill that we have highlighted as being in breach of Article 8, the UK Data Protection Act and a specific EU Data Protection Directive, the unilateral departure from which by Scotland would have far-reaching implications for the rest of the UK.
The Scottish Sunday Express has run a series of three front page articles covering the main issues of concern, the most recent of which has revealed the contempt in which citizens are held by a government which has deliberately chosen to to ignore public opinion in order to covertly collect, use (and misuse in cases we have come across) the personal data of every individual without bothering to obtain consent, informed or otherwise.
SNP bill to spy on parents is criticised by families (19 May)
State snoops checking out new parents 26 May)
‘ID card’ plan to snoop on Scots (2 June)
Christopher Booker has also recently issued a stern warning in his Telegraph column entitled Now it’s a social worker for every child – in Scotland, making the point that “more state interference will not protect children”. Dr Stuart Waiton, a sociologist and criminologist from Abertay University, has strongly criticised the Scottish Government’s plans in an opinion piece in the Scotsman, while Maggie Mellon, writing in the Herald, has described the Children and Young People Bill [as] a missed opportunity.
The sinister nature of GIRFEC has been the subject of countless blog posts, including an exposé of Battery children, Scottish style by the inimitable Anna Raccoon and All your children are ours by Orphans of Liberty. It has also been discussed on a number of radio and internet broadcasts inside and outside the UK, which has done little to enhance Scotland’s international reputation.
The Big Brother Scotland thread from the Home Education Forums lists (with links) many previous and current articles relating to GIRFEC, and an article first published by Schoolhouse in 2009, ID cards for babies, the rest will follow, documents the hidden history of the EU-rooted (definitely not home-grown) project which was first enthusiastically embraced by Tony Blair and later adopted uncritically by this Scottish Government and its predecessor executives. Cross party culpability clearly applies when it comes to GIRFEC (test tube baby of eCare and half-sibling to Every Child Matters).
The following comment on the petition was recently posted on one of our forums by a highly experienced former social worker:
“Excellent petition. There’s a similar Bill here in Wales – and we support your campaign to stop the growth of the database state. The utter madness of extending the function of the state during a period of austerity should be obvious to any sane person!
“Meanwhile, in the real world of social work, Children’s Services are sinking under the weight of unrealistic expectations. The notion that poor parenting would be improved by early intervention has not produced the anticipated reduction in demand for services – instead the number of care proceedings and children in care is increasing all the time.
“Local authorities are now under enormous pressure from increased workloads and there are huge problems in the recruitment and retention of social workers. In many ways the social work profession has become part of the problem, incapable of offering solutions, and it saddens me that libertarian principles of practice are being forgotten.”
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