Via the No2ID blog, this, from the Register:
The Department for Education and Skills is to reconsider the fingerprinting of school children after a four year campaign by parents.
Jim Knight, schools minister, told Greg Mulholland, campaigning LibDem MP for Leeds North West, in a letter sent on 12 December, that he would “update the guidance on the use of biometric technologies” by schools.
Well, well, well… So, persistent campaigning and belligerence in the face of political intransigence, obfuscation and downright lying does pay off after all. Ever since Thatcher’s “You turn if you want to, the lady’s not for turning” bollocks, I have despised politicians who persist in ignoring the wishes of those who elected them on the basis of not wishing to appear weak. Changing one’s mind when presented with the evidence that one is wrong or out of step is not weakness; it is mature, pragmatic and the decent thing to do. So, has the government really done the decent thing (now that would be a first)? Yes, it would seem, according to Mulholland:
A spokesman for Mullholland said that the DfES had persistently said in answer to Parliamentary questions that school fingerprinting would not be reviewed. But now, he said: “This is a U-turn.”
On the other hand…
The DfES today issued a statement saying: “This is not a U-turn,”
Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? Not for a government department to go all honest and contrite with its masters, that really wouldn’t do, now, would it? Still, just to make sure, Terri from Arch Rights and Pippa King are maintaining the pressure:
Terry[sic] Dowty, spokeswoman for Action on Rights for Children, said the government needed to do more to reassure parents than merely issue guidelines about the non-consensual fingerprinting of school children.
“Guidelines are just not good enough,” she said, “The whole thing needs a much fuller debate. Given that parents have strong feelings about this, you can’t just say, we’ve done a review and decided that these are the rules. There must be a proper debate.”
Quite so. Keep up the good work, ladies.
Thank you 8)This is a ‘sort of’ win, in that DfES has at least stopped ignoring the problem but, given it’s taken 4.5 years just to reach this point, I think we’re in for the long haul. Not so much a U-turn, more like entering a roundabout.
Huh? The cat picture that came up beside my last post is almost identical to my cat, Blossom. I’m trying again to see if I get the same picture.
No, they are set to random. The cat pictures in the gravatars are Berenike (black & white) and Nefertiti (tabby and white). This time around, you got a frog…
In your post you mention.”I have despised politicians who persist in ignoring the wishes of those who elected them on the basis of not wishing to appear weak” What do you do when politicians make decisions on your behalf, like the ones in Scotland, on England, and there is fuck all we can do about it.
Ah, the old West Lothian problem. Not really the issue being discussed here, but the same applies; I despise the bastards. I notice Brown making the same intransigent noises today about the union. Fine, I would like to see the union continue; but a union of equals, which is not currently the case.
Thanks for your encouragement 😀
Well, Berenike is Blossom’s twin. What a shame it’s random – just for a minute there I was dead impressed with your psychic blog.
Not that psychic, I’m afraid. You can, however set yourself a gravatar using the gravatar link. That means that your gravatar will be the same on any supported blog. If you can be bothered, that is… 😉