Vulnerable minorities

I'm glad the Home Secretary has decided to abandon the more ridiculous elements of New Labour's vetting scheme. The quango set up to see if we are deviants of the first order will still be in place though. We live in a weird world. We have to be so careful not to offend but also be wary of being accused of neglect, abuse or just plain ingorance of the new ways.

I'm just getting my head around the concept of vulnerable lone workers. The idea now is that no female, juvenile or elderly person can be left on their own in charge of a workplace. Any visitor is deemed to be a potential threat. Woe betide any cold caller visiting when a single woman is left alone over lunchtime. He may be selling widgets but it's his own widget the authorities are minded about. So are we all seen as potential abusers? "You can't be too careful!" goes the mantra. But each time a real pervert is caught a police spokesman blithely comments that "this one fell under our radar!".

If we all think about it we are all in a minority of something. And I suppose we could all be vulnerable at one time or another. This is not about "being careful" but about the authorities wanting to be seen to be carefully covering their backs. Until they get to grips with the aberration of paedophila (the driver behind all this) nothing will change except the number of boxes we have to tick. If Big Brother (or Sister) is going to assist in any meaningful way it will be to identify peadophilia as a notifiable mental disease with the necessary curbs on the person's liberties. Just locking them up is useless. So is creating a wave of hysteria as the likes of the Express and Sun delight in.

The core problem must be tackled otherwise we will become a vulnerable majority.