Smoking, Driving and Free Choice

Just listened to an interesting interview regarding the BMA wanting smoking in cars to be banned. Regardless of the differing viewpoints I find it most bizarre that the Doctors might think that the Police could stop people smoking when they can't even enforce the ban on driving and using a mobile 'phone (well not if my journey yesterday along the M42 and my various forays to the Crem' and back are anything to go by)!

Logistics aside, I was stunned to hear how one one side the ban was designed to protect children and on the other how this was a further erosion of civil liberties and heralded the next stage towards something that would see smokers emerge as pariahs (thought they were already!) who were not even free to smoke in the privacy of their own homes.

An extension of the Nanny State? Remembering back to the Bliar days when we had calls for sharp knives to be removed from homes in a bid to reduce injuries through domestic violence and more recently the group advocating 'food wardens' who would have the right to examine larders and 'fridges as part of ensuring that the levels of obesity are reduced it beggars the question, where next?

Rationing chocolate by weight of the customer - the higher the BMI the less you can buy?

Limiting the number of times you can buy convenience food - no more hippy meals for you?

Compulsory fitness classes for the overweight and underfit?

Where would you establish a Nanny State limitation or response I wonder?

Pax

Parenting - it's about responsibilities

I was pleasantly unsurprised by the social worker who appeared on Radio Four this morning over the potential removal into care of four of their children from their parents because they were 'too fat'! The four children (aged 1, 3, 7 & 11)  face the situation where they will be 'fostered without contact' or 'adopted'.

Now I have to be honest and say that I do think that letting our kids become obese is an issue and that steps need to be taken (and I understand many have been) but the frightening bit in all of this (for me at least) is the comment from a supposedly aware and competent social worker that. "Parents have no rights only responsibilities!" This professional went on to add that publishing stories like this only caused people to doubt and regard social workers.

Is it any blinking wonder?

I know a goodly number of social workers who are overworked and try to ensure that the right outcome is brought into being and then I know many others who appear to be inept, out of touch and to be honest, totally incompetent (just like dogcollars) and their decisions and outcomes fill the newspapers, promote the popularity of public enquiries and keep coroners busy.

In this case it appears that the parents have worked to meet the demands of the social workers, pity the same can't be said of the professionals with regard to the family.

Pax

Back home - time for a cup of tea and then chapter (Yeeha!)