one of the dumbest things i've ever read about...

[Mike70]

without a doubt. this is dumb, dumb, dumb and really makes me wonder just what the fuck is wrong with the UK.

the govt. is now regulating whether you can leave your child with a friend, if there is a "reward" involved. under these "rules" a parent who has an agreement with a friend to time share childcare is breaking the law, again if there is a "reward" involved.

this is fucking nuts.


According to the Mail on Sunday, Ofsted told two detective constables, Leanne Shepherd, from Milton Keynes, and Lucy Jarrett, from Buckingham, to end their arrangement.

Ms Shepherd told the newspaper: "When the Ofsted inspector turned up, the first thing she said was: 'I have had a report that you're running an illegal childminding business'.

"I straightaway thought she must be mistaken, so invited her into my home to explain we were police officers and best friends helping each other out.

"But she told me I was breaking the law and must end the arrangement with Lucy immediately. I was stunned, completely devastated... I couldn't see how I could continue working."

are you kidding me? i mean seriously, how much of tin plated, petty minded bureaucrat do you have to be to apply regulations in this way.


Close relatives of the child such as grandparents, siblings, aunts or uncles were exempt from the rules, he added.

well, how fooking nice of the govt. to allow grandparents to take care of their own grandchildren without having to register as childminders.


damn, i don't even live in the UK and have no plans ever to do so, but this still irritates me.

[Eyebiter]

Western countries seem to have absolutely no common sense anymore.

[krakenslayer]

Bear in mind, however, that The Mail on Sunday is the Sunday edition of The Dail Mail - the most stuck up, hate-seething, hyperbole-spewing ass-rag on the newspaper rack. This newspaper regularly takes minor incidents of no consequence and exaggerates them/blows them out of all proportion to "illustrate" how Britain is going to a "hell in a handcart".

Even if the above event hadn't happened, and the law (which is NOT a new law) had never come into force, the Mail would be bitching from the other side of the arguement using headlines along the lines of: "YOUR CHILDMINDER COULD BE A PAEDOPHILE SEX RAPIST!!!!" :D

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, the Mail really damages any good message that it puts out by being far too angry about everything, and picking on things in an obsessive manner.

That said, it illustrates a point regardless. All this regulation is meaningless for grown ups who are doing as they are doing in this example.

The problem is, over the last decade the government has done everything it can to distrust anyone and everyone. Whatever happened to trust? (It's the topic of a new political book coming out soon, too).

Who knows them better - the people themselves who are friends, or some useless rabble who claim to be a government in charge.

Meddling - that's what you get from Labour - lots of top down meddling in everyone's lives, nobody can be trusted to get on with their own lives themselves.

Fact is, your kid is most likely going to be completely fine, you're most likely not going to get into a car crash, you're most likely not going to die from your average diet, etc...

Meddle, meddle, meddle - just fuck off right now and let people get on with their own lives, you meddling meddlers! :mad:

[SymphonicX]

This is a throwback to Baby P....kneejerk reaction to not looking "bad"

The trouble is, what do you do as a response to a 3 year old getting killed? The breakdown of society is driving this...idiots reacting to idiots.

[MinionZombie]

what do you do as a response to a 3 year old getting killed?

Investigate the case fully, determine what actually happened - tell the public clearly and concisely, then if necessary, provide fair, reasoned, well thought-out, un-rushed legislation that can actually stop something like that happening again.

But that'd just be too sensible and common sense-like wouldn't it?

[SymphonicX]

I'm getting at actual ideas though - I agree 100% with you - but the actual base level of what "un-rushed legislation" is, is questionable...I mean I'm not defending them for a split second - but this crushing of yet more civil liberties is a direct response to being held responsible for Baby P...and they can't actually fix our broken society so instead issue laws and regulations to control us....argh.

On a slight side note - one thing I didn't know is that the US and UK have the worst cases of mental health issues....mainly due to a breakdown in society as theorised by a Reverend on The Big Questions the other day - I actually agree with this...the more society is individualist and selfish, the less contact we have with each other and the result is people being brought up like morons and going mental! This leads to cases like Baby P, which in turn leads to legislation which is the topic of this thread.

Gotta break that cycle - and no government can do that!!!

[MinionZombie]

The thing with the Baby P though, was a complete and utter breakdown of those in social services who should have seen that something was wrong far sooner. And it's not the first time something has happened in that council, along similar lines, if I'm not mistaken.

There's no need for legislation, just making sure people do their jobs properly - really, the way social services is done needs to be bettered by improved training for the individuals, but most importantly of all - common bloody sense, something which is really lacking in the UK today ... or at least in organisations.

I disagree in a way, because it's the top-down non-individualist way that Labour runs things which makes people worse - nobody is allowed to think for themselves, or run their own lives, there's always got to be a "nanny(state) knows best" mentality, which really crushes the public down - time and again you'll hear from average folk on the street various comments which just scream out for giving people back the power to deal with themselves, rather than being told what to do by a gaggle of gubment types.

The government should only be there to organise big issues (like health care, for instance) - but they've gotta organise it properly, naturally - beyond that they should just be there to keep things ticking over nicely on an even keel, that's it.

Unfortunately, there are many people in positions of high success and power that don't have the personality to allow that, and those that would, don't have the personality to make it to positions of such high power and success.

A catch 22 in a way...

[Mike70]

UPDATE: there is an article out this morning (on the bbc this time) that the babysitting policy is going to be reviewed by the children's minister.

good, because if there has ever been a daft ass idea, this is it.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8277378.stm

[MinionZombie]

UPDATE: there is an article out this morning (on the bbc this time) that the babysitting policy is going to be reviewed by the children's minister.

good, because if there has ever been a daft ass idea, this is it.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8277378.stm
Smells like the same kind of review that struck the recently floated idea of having a database of all adults who come into contact with children (posted about it the other week, and it was equally, if not more, disgusting).

By "review" I hope they mean "long grass" by which I hope they mean "dead and buried in the field of the worst ideas ever dreamed up" ... ... a field which is pretty damn full after the last 13 years. :rockbrow:

[Mike70]

By "review" I hope they mean "long grass" by which I hope they mean "dead and buried in the field of the worst ideas ever dreamed up" ... ... a field which is pretty damn full after the last 13 years. :rockbrow:

what this all boils down to (in my view at least) is that, the govt. has absolutely no right to tell anyone who they can trust their kids with.

if there is evidence of abuse, then the govt. can get involved but this snooping into people's lives and telling them "you can't leave your kids with your best friend" is really, really disgusting.

[MinionZombie]

what this all boils down to (in my view at least) is that, the govt. has absolutely no right to tell anyone who they can trust their kids with.

if there is evidence of abuse, then the govt. can get involved but this snooping into people's lives and telling them "you can't leave your kids with your best friend" is really, really disgusting.
Damn straight, plus it's a no brainer as to whether you get involved in or not - STAY THE FUCK OUT OF IT!