Big Brother database to protect children against paedophiles has gone too far, says Soham report chief

September 14, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

www.dailymail.co.uk

A massive vetting system set up to safeguard children and the elderly has come under fire from Sir Michael Bichard – the man whose report into the Soham murders led to its creation.

One in four adults in Britain will have to be screened by the Independent Safeguarding Authority when it goes live next month, before they are allowed to work in any job involving access to children.

It could even cover those who do no more than give neighbours’ or friends’ children lifts to sports or club events.

As opposition to the massive expansion of state vetting of ordinary people grew yesterday, children’s minister Baroness Morgan claimed the plans would help protect children from a repeat of ‘the very tragic events with the murders in Soham’.

But within hours Sir Michael Bichard, the former Whitehall mandarin who conducted the inquiry into the Soham killings, called for a review of the ISA’s rules, suggesting the new restrictions on millions of ordinary adults were a disproportionate response to the threat posed by paedophiles.

The Conservatives added to the pressure by pledging to curb the ISA dramatically if they win the next General Election.

The ISA will become the world’s largest vetting and checking system when it starts work next month, checking the backgrounds of an estimated 11.3million adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Anyone whose work brings them into contact with children will have to undergo checks costing £64, including all teachers, doctors, nurses dentists, pharmacists, prison officers, and school governors and dinner ladies.

Most controversially, parents who give lifts to friends’ children to attend a football match or Cubs’ evening will have to be vetted in all cases where the arrangements are made through the club or organisation.
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