Blog
Keeping you up to date on the progress of the Named Person scheme and the NO2NP campaign.
NO2NP event: Sillars tells Swinney ‘do a Hammond’ with Named Persons
Posted 7 years ago
Around 250 people turned out for a NO2NP special event in Edinburgh on Monday in a major rally against the Named Person scheme. People travelled from all over, coming from Moray, the Borders, Perthshire, Dundee and even near Inverness!
Speakers at the John McIntyre Conference Centre included former deputy leader of the SNP Jim Sillars, and prominent human rights QC Aidan O’Neill who successfully represented campaigners involved with NO2NP in court.
Journalist and commentator Kevin McKenna and NO2NP supporters Dr Stuart Waiton and Maggie Mellon also took to the podium.
Jim Sillars urged Deputy First Minister John Swinney to “do a Hammond” on the Named Person scheme and drop the plans.
He said: “My advice would be to do a Hammond. Last week the government at Westminster was in a hole. It had the brains to stop digging and my advice to this government is this isn’t going to work.
“This is going to be a punishment on you over the years ahead. Stop digging, get out the hole and abandon it.”
Aidan O’Neill QC, a leading human rights lawyer who was behind the successful Named Person Supreme Court challenge, spoke about the judgment and its implications for families. He explained the law and why the Supreme Court ruled the way it did.
He said the Named Person legislation was written in a “vague language of aspiration when it should be talking specifically in terms of obligation” and that’s why the Supreme Court ruled that it was “not in accordance with law”.
He was then joined by two members of his legal team, Laura-Anne van der Westhuizen and Sam Webster, to answer questions from the audience about the judgment.
Journalist and commentator Kevin McKenna spoke about media reporting of the Named Person scheme and encouraged delegates to contact newspapers to tell their stories.
Speaking about the scheme he said: “My chief concern is that it will inevitably, even if inadvertently, target families who are encountering chronic social disadvantage”.
Independent social worker Maggie Mellon spoke about the culture and practice of children’s services on the ground. She said families had wanted a single point of contact for parents, but instead the Government had created in the Named Person scheme “a point of contact about parents”.
She added that the legislation had “made parents and families accountable to services, it didn’t in any way make services accountable to parents”.
Dr Stuart Waiton, sociology and criminology lecturer at Abertay University, said the Named Person scheme undermines families and the idea of privacy. He spoke about the influence of early intervention and how it was a key driver of the Named Person scheme.
NO2NP spokesman Simon Calvert spoke about the breadth and success of the NO2NP campaign and encouraged supporters to get involved.
The event finished with a lively question and answer session with NO2NP stalwarts Lesley Scott and Alison Preuss joining the panel.
Lesley and Alison also featured in an exclusive video, where they shared their experience of being involved in the campaign and the challenges that lie ahead.
The audience also viewed a moving video featuring two parents telling their stories about the Named Person scheme and the traumatic effect it had on their families.
Delegates were also encouraged to take armfuls of a new NO2NP leaflet, Parents’ Guide to the Named Person Scheme, which was launched at the event.
The handy guide is designed to help parents understand their rights following the Supreme Court judgment. You can request free paper copies by emailing admin@no2np.org or download a PDF version here.
Book now: Special one-off NO2NP national gathering in March
Posted 7 years agoNO2NP will be holding a one-off special event, Named Persons: Doomed… or just delayed? in Edinburgh on Monday 20 March, 11:00am – 1:15pm.
Named Persons: Doomed… or just delayed?
Monday 20 March 2017, 11am – 1:15pm
John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh
BOOK NOW FOR THIS FREE EVENT
Do you want the unique opportunity to question the QC behind the Supreme Court legal challenge?
Would you like to be clear about your legal rights following the Supreme Court judgment and get equipped to take action in your community?
Do you want to know how to make MSPs more responsive to the concerns of parents?
Then come along to this one-off free event and hear from key figures involved in opposing the Named Person scheme; including legal experts, parents and key members of the NO2NP campaign. BOOK NOW
Speakers will include:
- Aidan O’Neill QC – Leading human rights lawyer who acted on behalf of parties to the successful Named Person legal action
- Jim Sillars – Former deputy leader of the SNP, who said the Named Persons legislation was “riddled with ambiguity”.
- Kevin McKenna – Columnist regularly featured in The National, The Herald and The Guardian, who has warned against the “deeply flawed” Named Persons legislation
- Maggie Mellon – Independent social work consultant
- Dr Stuart Waiton – Sociology and criminology lecturer at Abertay University
NO2NP ACTION DAY: EDINBURGH
Posted 9 years agoA team of NO2NP volunteers took to the streets of Edinburgh on Saturday to raise the campaign’s profile in the latest NO2NP Action Day.
The team were based at the top of Leith Walk, where they were able to engage with hundreds of local residents on their way to the city centre.
People of all ages and from all walks of life were keen to sign the online petition then and there on the tablets the team were armed with – as a result we’ve now passed 12,000 signatures! Hundreds of others took the flyers that were handed out.
Some people were already aware of the Named Person scheme and the vast majority were opposed to it, whilst even the one or two who thought it might be a good idea found themselves having a rethink as the dangerous implications were explained to them. But many others were not aware of Named Persons at all, which shows how important it is for the campaign to continue to make the scheme known as widely as possible.
One couple were appalled to learn that – even though they were grandparents – since they were “associated adults” with their grandchildren, the Named Person might consider personal information about them appropriate for sharing with other agencies (without their knowledge or consent).
Another couple felt this was a sinister scheme that had overtones of Big Brother, while one man promised to tell all his friends about the campaign.
It’s important that people also make their concerns known to their MSPs, as the Scottish Government seems increasingly reluctant to engage on the issue.
Our next Action Day will be in Glasgow on Saturday 19th September and don’t forget the Roadshow event before it at the Couper Institute in Cathcart on Monday 14th September at 7.30pm.
