Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Child Protection

As visitors to my website will know I have an ongoing focus on this issue, although it does not come up in my book.

Earlier in the year I put forward a plan for radical reform, the key element of which was the incorporation of both the legal and investigative elements under one roof. This would have the power of a Court but operate the continental inquisitorial legal system supported by properly conducted assessments through full time fully trained Child Protection Officers. It would be robust but sensitive, mindful always that error either way can lead to the needless death of a child. It would be timely and family friendly aware of the trauma beneath the surface of every case.

The Times this week on Monday had a big spread describing all the mounting problems of a creaking legal process utterly unsuited to the task  of protecting either children in need or accused but innocent families. It is hugely costly to run. This causes pain and anguish to the most vulnerable among us. My proposals would put a stop to this. If this country has a fault it is that the authorities  will not listen unless it is their idea. The reason America became the most powerful country on earth is that there, more than anywhere else, ideas are always welcome.

Foreign Office Priorities

Yesterday I called the Foreign Office and asked for the official view of John Bolton’s nuking Iran by Israel plan. They did not have one. They never comment about things said overseas by foreign politicians. How peculiar. They are not the Home Office. They are the Foreign Office. They can’t afford to be sniffy about foreigners surely?

This morning, over my early morning tea, I listen to David Milliband, yes the Foreign Secretary, telling us why Tony Blair is just the person to be President of Europe. Of course. How silly of me. That’s the kind of thing the Foreign Office is interested in on our behalf. I really must get my priorities straight.

Iran

President Ahmadinejad is reported to have said that he is willing to move from confrontation to cooperation over nuclear fuel. This is very welcome news. It is a success for the Obama administration’s decision to give diplomacy the lead role in this divisive issue. The doves will see it as vindication. So may the hawks. Netanyahu and John Bolton will hail it a victory for standing firm. As with all diplomacy there will be something for each to clutch at. What is needed now is more fodder for the dove than less for the hawk. The latter’s road to Armageddon is not a good one to tread.