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NO2NP ROADSHOW: GLASGOW

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There was a good turnout at the Couper Institute in Glasgow’s southside for the latest NO2NP Roadshow. With the online petition having reached 13,000 signatures, supporters were keen to hear the latest developments in the campaign.

After sociology lecturer Stuart Waiton from Abertay University in Dundee opened the meeting, local community paediatrician Dr Jenny Cunningham explained about the disconnect there is between the way the Named Person scheme is put across as a supportive measure and how it will actually work in practice (a threat to parental rights and responsibilities). Of particular concern was the increasing state intervention in family life – always the hallmark of a tyrannical society. The whole scheme seems to be founded on suspiciousness and doubt regarding parents and their ability to look after their children. This is very dangerous, as confidentiality is being sacrificed on the basis of whether the Named Person considers that children may be vulnerable.

Lesley Scott from The Young ME Sufferers Trust then reviewed a recent interview Children and Young People’s Minister Aileen Campbell gave on Radio Scotland’s Stephen Jardine show, following the result of the latest stage of NO2NP’s legal challenge. The minister repeatedly claimed that the Named Person policy was simply responding to what parents and children had asked them to do!

Lesley exposed this false claim by explaining that parents of children in Highland who already had involvement with various agencies had requested a single point of contact so that they didn’t need to keep giving the same information over and over again to different people. So the ‘request for a Named Person’ was only from some parents in Highland who had asked for a single access point for services, and what this particular group of parents wanted was a single point of contact which they could approach when and if THEY felt it necessary.

In contrast, Lesley stated, the Named Person provision in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act is a compulsory, no-opt out imposition of services on all families, when the state appointed Named Person feels it to be appropriate.

A new video of the history of the NO2NP campaign over the past year was then shown, followed by a talk by Alison Preuss, Press Officer for the homeschooling charity Schoolhouse.

Alison outlined her concerns that the UK is rapidly moving towards becoming a nation where there is “universal citizen surveillance, starting with the children”. The Scottish Government has already “steamrollered” legislation through Holyrood which requires every ‘service’ to gather and share the personal data of every child and associated adult in Scotland without their consent.

After Nigel Kenny of The Christian Institute explained some practical ways in which those present could get involved in the campaign, there was a very lively Q&A session. One member of a Children’s Panel queried how the Scottish Government would be able to address the widespread needs of the 1.5 million children and young people there are in Scotland, when they have so far been unable to address the issues faced by the 13,000 to 16,000 young Scots who go through the Children’s Hearing system. Another parent queried why Named Persons, who are just as prone to making mistakes as any parent, are somehow deemed more fit to decide on a child’s wellbeing. And still another asked who would be monitoring the Named Persons’ activities.

NO2NP volunteers will be in Glasgow City Centre this Saturday morning, handing out flyers and encouraging people to sign the petition, so if you would like to help, please get in touch with us at admin@no2np.org.