The biggest threat to home education that the UK has ever experienced?

Also appearing in the Time Online 'Schoolgate' is an article about the latest review of home education which seems to be seeking to use the Every Child Matters initiative as the latest lever to impose standardisation and monitoring on all children, they can't allow all these independent free thinkers to roam the country now can they?

READ MORE at:-
http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2009/02/the-biggest-thr.html

Is Jesus now banned?

The Times Online guide to Britain's Education System, 'Schoolgate' has reported the story of the receptionist facing the sack after her daughter talked about Jesus in class.

I don't have any strong religious beliefs but do believe that people have a right in a free society to talk openly about their beliefs, this surely must be political correctness gone mad mixed with the teachers taking revenge on the receptionist who spoke out against it.

READ MORE at:-
http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2009/02/the-story-of-th.html

International Commission of Jurists confirm US and UK are Undermining International Law

The International Commission of Jurists has released a report which concluded that the framework of international law that existed before the 9/11 attacks on the US was robust and effective.But now, it said, it was being actively undermined by many states and liberal democracies like the US and the UK.
The panel said the legal systems put in place after World War II were "well-equipped to handle current terror threats".

It said countries should use civilian legal systems to try suspects and "not resort to ad-hoc tribunals or military courts to try terror suspects".

The report's authors expressed concern at the lack of adequate safeguards in the use of control orders, the weakness of diplomatic assurances in relation to deportations and "excessive detention without charge".

Britain's pre-trial detention time limit of 28 days is one of the longest in the world.

Mr Chaskelson, chairman of the panel, said: "In the course of this inquiry, we have been shocked by the extent of the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the world.

"Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights.

"The result is a serious threat to the integrity of the international human rights legal framework."

READ MORE at:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7892387.stm

http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=4453&lang=en

http://www.icj.org/IMG/EJP_PRESSE_RELEASE_16.02.09.pdf

http://www.icj.org/IMG/EJPReport.pdf

http://www.icj.org/IMG/EJPExecutiveSummary.pdf

"..this would occur even if their comments fell within the law"

As part of a new 'counter terrorism' drive a senior whitehall official is quoted as saying "..this would occur even if their comments fell within the law" whilst being interviewed about the new 'Contest 2' strategy which aims to 'isolate and publicly reject' those that urge separation. The source is also quoted as saying Britain "needs to identify and back shared values" and "...We now believe that we should challenge people who are against democracy and state institutions".

On the face of it this all sounds like a very reasonable policy to identify leaders seeking to stir up potential extremists and put a stop to their provokative speeches.

However, it worries me to hear talk about silencing people who speak within the law. Surely, if you have not broken any law then the authorities have no right to interfere with you, if the law is not suitable then that is a matter for parliament to debate and correct if necessary, isn't that what democracy is all about? Or do our security forces now have the ability to override the rule of law?

I am also concerned about phrases such as "needs to identify and back shared values", this suggests to me that anyone who does not comply with the official version of the 'shared values' of the state should be 'isolated and rejected'. Afraid this sounds rather like the rhetoric of totalitarian government such as we might have expected in communist Russia.

What happened to 'Freedom of speech', 'Innocent until proven guilty'?

Yes, we need to protect ourselves from those who may harm us but this does not mean we should give the authorities carte blanche to choose who can say what and silence anyone they disagree with even if they have broken no law - that is a dangerous road to follow.

READ MORE at:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7889631.stm

Time for all parents to wake up - Every Child Matters

An excellent analysis of the threat to us all presented under the guise of 'child protection' and the 'Every Child Matters' banner. Thank you to Sometimes it's Peaceful for writing this.

The time has come for all parents to wake up and become aware of the massive legal changes to UK law that are being rolled out and will affect us all. Even parents who live outside of the UK should look out for this coming to their country and try to stop it before it happens. Here, the new system is called Every Child Matters (http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/) and it seeks to monitor and control every aspect of every child's life.

The ECM regime is centred around five 'outcomes', with which every child is expected to comply, but the outcomes don't mean what they imply. "Be healthy," "Stay safe," "Enjoy and achieve," "Make a positive contribution," and "Achieve economic well-being," all sound quite harmless and beneficial, but when you scratch the surface they actually mean something quite different.

The five outcomes are all measured by a whole raft of indicators, and if your child is seen to be failing in any outcome, he or she will be put through an eCAF (http://tinyurl.com/ag6686) which is a long and extremely invasive questionnaire that collects information about every aspect of the child's life, and lodges the answers in the child's file on the new Contactpoint database. If you look at the end of the questions, you will see the requirement for an 'action plan', the progress of which is to be tracked, monitored and recorded on the child's file.

The thing is, the criteria for the outcomes is going to be so tight that it will be almost impossible for every child to reach them all the time. For example, the draft guidance for anyone coming into contact with children on 'When to suspect child maltreatment' (http://tinyurl.com/bv23r2) includes things like inappropriate, or ill-fitting clothes, not taking prescribed medicine, 'excessive clinginess', temper tantrums, or other 'inappropriate behaviour'. If you've got children, you will know that most can and will fall foul of at least one of those points in stressful circumstances. The 'Stay Safe' outcome is then breached and an eCAF carried out.

But the most worrying outcome is the last one. 'Achieve economic wellbeing' actually means that any child whose family on a lower than average income (which is actually quite high: http://tinyurl.com/b76f2r and is worked out *after* housing costs and tax) who is receiving Child Tax Credits, when both parents are not in full-time employment, will fail to meet the outcome and be made the subject of an eCAF and associated action plan. Causing a child to live in [relative] poverty is now seen as abusive and this may not affect you now, but hardly anyone's position is 100% safe in the current economic climate. To address the issue of lack of jobs, the government is working with corporate 'partners' to bring in a full-time compulsory workfare programme.

The 'Every Child Matters' and Anti-Child Poverty programmes are not designed only to help children in real need. Systems are already in place to help those children and our state welfare system ensures that nobody ever needs to go hungry in this country. The intention - and the result, if we do nothing - will be to completely change the nature of normal family life forever.

So what can we do? This is difficult. Most of the changes are happening by Statutory Instrument, which is not voted on in Parliament, so your MP is probably unable to make a difference although it might help to write to them with your concerns (http://www.writetothem.com/). Petitions are usually ignored in matters of major reform programmes such as these, and protest marches seem to have very little effect. Voting for a different political party will not help: all the main parties are committed to doing the same thing, or worse.

Perhaps the most powerful thing you can do just now is to talk to other parents. Pass this message around, post it on forums, send it in emails. If you know anyone who works with children or is likely to come into contact with them in a professional capacity, talk to them especially about it. Ask them if they realise the full extent of the planned changes and consequences, so that pressure can be put on the relevant trade unions to try to resist the process. As a parent, you would be wise to consider your family's position in the light of the changes, and possibly also to advise or warn your children accordingly.

But long-term, these new and invasive laws and systems need to be repealed. The political party system will not do it. We need independent MPs with the strength and integrity to work together in reversing all of the recent seismic legal attacks on our civil liberty. Do you know anyone who would be willing to stand as an independent MP on this issue? It might be the one thing that actually gets people out to vote.

READ MORE at:-
http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.com/2009/02/for-all-parents.html

Sheeple!

I am constantly amazed at how fiercly many people will attack those that try to highlight how the state is eroding our liberties and civil rights.

On a local email list recently the issue of automatic numberplate recognition cameras was raised after someone discovered that their town had a large number of cameras installed, some of which the police had complained were unsuitable for ANPR and should be upgraded.

A number of members of the list vehemently defended their right to be monitored and applauded each other for shouting down the original poster.

I thought I'd share my response with you, I don't imagine it will change anybody's mind and to be honest I am not interested in converting people, I just want to share what I find and voice my outrage at injustice and oppression.

I am truly amazed!

We see more and more surveillance around us, we are subject to more and more opressive legislation, yet you delight in putting down anyone who tries to warn you about what is going on around us.

Any degree of opression can be shown to cut crime. Yes we need to deal with criminals, but in a responsible manner and with respect for the innocent. Just where do we draw the line?

Would you be willing for the police to intercept and inspect every single letter or parcel that gets sent? I'm sure this would catch some criminals!

Would you be willing to have police cameras in every room in your house? This would catch child abusers and paedophiles!

Would you be willing to turn up at the police station every week to be interrogated whilst wired to a lie detector? This would catch some criminals and anti social yobs!

I'm not saying that any of the above are likely but just where do you draw the line between reasonable policing of a generally law abiding society and totalitarian government where people get arrested and jailed for years on 'suspicion' of commiting some crime against society?

Many recent laws in the UK have been drafted to be so vague that the police can pretty much decide for themselves whether you have broken the law - you have no idea in advance!

Fancy going out for a day trip sightseeing and take a few snaps? From Monday, a police officer can decide that your picture could be 'useful to a terrorist' and hey presto you face a 10 year prison sentence. Don't believe me? then look up the answer to question 717 on the police national legal database :-

Quote - "From Monday 16th February 2009 there is a new offence concerning eliciting information about members of armed forces, police officers and intelligence services which is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or publishes or communicates information of that kind. does not state that the person who gets the information has to use the information for terrorism purposes, just that the information is likely to be useful to a terrorist."

 I could go on and on quoting the laws and examples of people who have been wrongly accused such as the 15 year old schoolboy arrested for taking a photo at a railway station with his mobile phone but frankly there are too many of them and I don't have the energy to argue with
those that are happy to accept what is happening.

I do not knowingly break any laws and do my best not to cause harm to others by my actions or inactions but I deeply resent the unnecessary intrusions of the authorities whilst I go about my lawful daily life.

I resent the amount of money that the government take off me in taxes to pay for this unnecessary monitoring and control, just think how much less your income tax and council tax would be if billions of pounds were not being spent on excessive policing and surveillance, if it actually cut crime then one might argue its merits yet we are constantly being told that crime is rising, vandalism is rising, the threat of terrorism is rising. I FOR ONE DON'T BELIEVE IT FOR ONE MOMENT.

'Democratic Britain' or Communist Russia?

I thought that this kind of thing only happened in oppressive regimes such as Russia under the old communist regime. This is quite an old video, more recently we have had armed police checking cars for MOT and Insurance documents, Police stopping and searching passengers at rail stations.

Long gone time to get worried!