We are all suspects in the new inquisition's eyes

In these straitened times, it's good to know that jobs are still being created. A quango called the Independent Safeguarding Authority, which will open this October, already has a well-staffed helpline and is advertising for ICT (information and communication technologies) and finance specialists.

Never heard of it? You soon will. If you are one of the 11.3 million people who might, in the course of your work, come into contact with children or “vulnerable adults”, you will be paying for the privilege of being vetted by this new authority. Its net will catch almost everyone in the NHS, even cooks. It will encompass accountants and board members of charities. It will include anyone generous enough to offer work experience to a teenager, or a bed to a foreign-exchange student. It will vet a quarter of the adult population.

Just think: any one of those 11.3 million people could be a paedophile. And think again: this gargantuan system would not have prevented Ian Huntley from murdering two schoolgirls in Soham in 2002, even though that awful murder was what prompted the invention of the Independent Safeguarding Authority. Read more
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