Sunday 1 November 2009

Big Brother says Britain is no longer a country where young people can visit lonely old men

'Big Brother' has a new younger sister called 'Isa'. Isa, or the the Independent Safeguarding Authority, is well looked after, she has an income of £40m and a staff of 220.
Isa's job is to 'help prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults'.

Isa may be young, but she has powerful teeth and employers, local authorities and professional regulators, have a duty to refer to her if they have information about individuals, working with children or vulnerable adults, who they consider to have caused harm or pose a risk of harm.

Isa works with another older brother called Creb or the Criminal Records Bureau.

Word about the power of young Isa has already got around schools, where the tradition of pupils visiting lonely pensioners either, for a chat, or to help with housework, is under threat because schools fear that both the teenagers and the pensioners will have to be officially vetted by Creb, to check they are not 'potential abusers'.

Although Isa doesn't start to exercise her power until next year, some organisations have started implementing policies to reflect her requirements and some schools have dropped home visits, following seminars given by her officials.

Isa's strictures have already reached :

Wellington College, Berkshire, which is reviewing all its home visits to the elderly.

King’s College School, an independent school in London, which has already said it would avoid home visits.

Millfield school, Somerset, which said it had dropped home visits after being advised the pensioners would have to be vetted. The Head of Community Studies at thew school said : “The idea of going round for a friendly chat, running off to get the newspaper or befriending them in that way is finished. We now only visit nursing homes.”

What a sad country Britain has become, with its lonely old citizens the latest victims of the burgeoning power of a State which, while it is 'ostensibly' there to protect them is, 'in reality', sending them further to the margins of society.

1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4rBDUJTnNU

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