« Ha! | Main | The Silver Ring's the Thing »
June 19, 2006
Angry, frightened or confused
Or maybe a combination of all three. Just like Justin over at Chicken Yoghurt, I don't really know what to make of the announcement in the News of the World that there are two hostels in the South Yorkshire area that have been granted approval to house child abusers. In one respect I am in a slightly better position, as I know where the two hostels are as a consequence of a child protection role I carry out on a voluntary basis. But that's no real help, as the mobility of the individual using public or private transport makes the abuser's place of residence irrelevant to a degree.
Personally I think John Reid's jumping on the media bandwagon to be a classic demonstration of a desperate man in an unpopular government, looking for any opportunity to make both himself and the party look good in the eyes of the public. Pity he has such a short memory that he has forgotten the consequences of previous News of the World outbursts less than five years ago:
BBC - A paper's controversial campaign
An innocent man, Iain Armstrong, was beaten up by a mob in Manchester after being mistaken for one of the pictured paedophiles - apparently because he wore a neck-brace which looked like one worn to the man in the News of the World's picture.
There was a similar case in Norwich, and a celebrated incident when an entirely innocent South Wales paediatrician was attacked after confusion over the meaning of the word.
At the time, the News of the World dropped the campaign claiming that the Government had promised to implement "Sarah's Law", a claim subsequently denied by Government minister Paul Boateng.
The best thing about the list of hostels published in the News of the World is that the hostels have only been approved by the Home Office to house child abusers. That does not mean that they are actually housing the aforementioned child abusers, or have any intention of housing them.
Update: 11:56 - More over at Bloggerheads - John Reid is a gutless thug
Posted by Clive on June 19, 2006 11:37 AM in the category Society