2 big stories

Criminal record checks for parents who ferry children

From the Guardian:

Parents who regularly ferry groups of children on behalf of sports or social clubs such as the Scouts will have to undergo criminal record checks — or face fines of up to £5,000, it was disclosed today.

They will fall under the scope of the government’s new vetting and barring scheme, which is aimed at stopping paedophiles getting access to children.

Failure to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority, the Home Office agency that administers the scheme, could lead to criminal prosecution and a court fine.

The clubs themselves also face a £5,000 fine if they use volunteers who have not been cleared. Parents who host foreign pupils as part of school exchange trips will also have to be vetted.

In addition, all teachers, school governors, doctors, dentists, nurses and prison officers will have to be vetted, as they work with children or vulnerable adults. It’s estimated one in four adults (11.3 million people) in the UK will have to be approved by the Independent Safeguarding Authority, which is to be launched next month.

Controversial rescue of journalist in Afghanistan

From the Independent:

The operation to free the journalist Stephen Farrell was enmeshed in controversy and recrimination last night as Gordon Brown appeared to distance himself from ordering the rescue bid which ended in British and Afghan deaths.

Now the father of Sultan Munadi, the Afghan colleague of Mr Farrell who was killed in the raid, has demanded to know why ongoing negotiations, which he believes could have led to a peaceful outcome, were abandoned in favour of a military strike.

2 must read blog posts

Two sides of blogging:

Blogging: the insatiable time-eating monster Anders Hanson in the “personal” corner:

…that’s the beauty of blogging. You can say what you like, and if it’s worthwhile people read it. If it isn’t, then it just disappears in to the archive.

And in the “public” corner:

Why you still don’t know what Party committees are up to (part 2) – a brief, personal history of ‘reporting back’ via blogging by Mark Valladares:

Curiously, blogging, as a reporting medium, has been decidedly underused, given its relative simplicity

– Mark offers some reasons why.