BA's Male Ban

It's crazy. Are their no woman out there that would harm kids????????
It's pathetic.

KAREN

EXACTLY!!!

there are so many female phedophiles but yet their centering men?! why??!! its insane! i wouldn't trust a female more than a male.. but now with how everything is portrayed in the media and the sole focus on males its hard for anyone to focus on the women carrying out horrible acts like this!

I read Boris Johnson`s arcticle about this...He was asked to move away from 2 kids on a BA flight...You`ll need to read the article to find out the rediculousness of this BA policy... www.telegraph.co.uk/opini...inion.html



We unfortunately live with a cultural media trend that leads some to believe that any child that steps out of their front door is going to be harmed by men, basically. What utter trash!!
Infact what it will do (and *is* doing) is bump up the false allegations statistics. Im not taking away the real trauma that sex abuse brings and the true guilty should be brought to justice and punished. I`m just noting the wrong kind of nod in the wrong kind of direction here.

The thing is, who`ll lose out in the end? The children...as no adults will want to be near them for fear of being thought of a molester.
It`s a no win situation.

Noticed the link`s having a *moment*...Hope it`s ok to copy/paste it all!!



Come off it, folks: how many paedophiles can there be?
By Boris Johnson
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 09/11/2006

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Really? I said, not quite able to believe my luck. There we were, waiting for take-off, and I had just been having a quick zizz. It was a long flight ahead, all the way to India, and I had two children on my left. Already they were toughing each other up and sticking their fingers up each other's nose, and now — salvation!

Hovering above me was a silk-clad British Airways stewardess with an angelic smile, and she seemed to want me to move. "Please come with me, sir" said the oriental vision.

At once, I got her drift. She desired to upgrade me. In my mind's eye, I saw the first-class cabin, the spiral staircase to the head massage, the Champagne, the hot towels.

advertisement"You betcha!" I said, and began to unbuckle. At which point, the children set up a yammering. Oi, they said to me, where do you think you are going? I was explaining that the captain had probably spotted me come on board, don't you know. Doubtless he had decided that it was outrageous for me to fly steerage, sound chap that he was. I'd make sure to come back now and then, hmmm?

At which the stewardess gave a gentle cough. Actually, she said, she was proposing to move me to row 52, and that was because — she lowered her voice — "We have very strict rules".

Eh? I said, by now baffled. "A man cannot sit with children," she said; and then I finally twigged. "But he's our FATHER", chimed the children. "Oh," said the stewardess, and then eyed me narrowly. "These are your children?" "Yes," I said, a bit testily. "Very sorry," she said, and wafted down the aisle — and in that single lunatic exchange you will see just about everything you need to know about our dementedly phobic and risk-averse society. In the institutionalised prejudice of that BA stewardess against an adult male, you see one of the prime causes of this country's tragic under-achievement in schools.

I mention all this because the same absurd kerfuffle happened this week. Some child was put next to an ancient journalist and his wife on a flight, and the airline (BA again) went into spasm. As the hoo-ha raged, the press turned to the lobby groups, and someone called Pam Hibbert of Barnardo's obliged with the usual bossyboots quote. The ban on sitting children next to adults was "eminently sensible", said this eminently ridiculous figure.

I mean, come off it, folks. How many paedophiles can there be? Are we really saying that any time an adult male finds himself sitting next to someone under 16, he must expect to be hustled from his seat before the suspicious eyes of the entire cabin?

What about adult females? Every week there is some new tale of what a saucy French mistress is deemed to have done with her adolescent charges behind the bicycle sheds; and, disgraceful though these episodes may be, I don't hear anyone saying that children should be shielded from adult women. Do you? Or maybe I'm wrong — maybe all adults will have to carry personal cardboard partitions with them on every plane or train, just in case they find themselves sitting next to under-16s.

Even as I write, I can imagine the lip-pursing of some of my lovely high-minded readers. How would you like it, they will say, if some weird chap was plonked next to your kids? And they are right that I would worry about some strange adult sitting next to my children, chiefly because I wouldn't want the poor fellow to come to any harm.

To all those who worry about the paedophile plague, I would say that they not only have a very imperfect understanding of probability; but also that they fail to understand the terrible damage that is done by this system of presuming guilt in the entire male population just because of the tendencies of a tiny minority.

There are all sorts of reasons why the numbers of male school teachers are down 50 per cent in the period 1981 to 2001, and why the ratio of female to male teachers in primary schools is now seven to one. There are problems of pay, and the catastrophic failure of the state to ensure that they are treated as figures of authority and respect; and what with 'elf 'n' safety and human rights it is very hard to enforce discipline.

But it is also, surely, a huge deterrent to any public-spirited man contemplating a career in education that society apparently regards all adult male contact with young people as being potentially a bit dodgy, a bit rum, a bit you know…

It is a total disaster. It is not just that both boys and girls could do with more male role models in the classroom. Worse still, it often used to be men who taught physics, and maths, and chemistry, and it is the current shortage of such teachers that explains why 80 per cent of pupils studying physics are now taught by someone with a degree in biology; and that in turn helps explain why the numbers doing physics A-level have halved, and why physics departments are closing all over the shop, with all the consequent damage to our science base.

It has tended to be male teachers who take contact sports. Even if they can find a playing-field, these days, the poor male sports teachers have to cope with a terrifying six-inch thick manual explaining how they must on no account shout at their charges, and above all, on pain of prosecution, they must NOT BE LEFT ALONE with the kids. No wonder our children are apparently turning into big fat Augustus Gloops.

It is insane, and the problem is the general collapse of trust. Almost every human relationship that was sensibly regulated by trust is now governed by law, with cripplingly expensive consequences.

I blame the media, I blame the judges, I blame the lobby groups, and in particular I blame the cowardly capitalist airline companies that give in to this sort of loony hysteria. If you happen to be reading this on a British Airways flight, and have quite rightly sustained a burst blood vessel, then I think you are entitled to an immediate upgrade.

Boris Johnson is MP for Henley


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Lynne, you said "knickers" and "nanny" in the same comment on a public forum. You are now on a government watch list...beware
Posted by Keith Manton on November 10, 2006 4:05 PM
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Hopefully relevant to the discussion: Father-in-law and I were walking in my town's shopping street last weekend and came across a young girl of about 4 that was looking lost. Asking her if she was ok, she said she'd lost her mummy. She was carrying a card inside a paper bag and we walked her back to the store it had come from and asked the assitant if she had remembered the girl or her mum. We waited with her until her rather frazzled parents turned up having thought she'd been with the other one. Great outcome, but my father-in-law told me later that if he hadn't been walking with my two children of a similar age then he wouldn't have felt comfortable to stop and ask her if she was ok. And I bet he's not the only one these days!
Posted by Andy on November 10, 2006 3:44 PM
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Thank god a MP who has finally realised what is actually going on in this country.

When the government change laws, ie criminal act 2003, to include crimes such as "Sexual Touching" , which is defined as touching another over or under clothing with your hand or any object, then god help us all!! If you work with anyone under 18 and are male, be very scared!!

Mr Reid is using this law to send hundreds of innocent men to prison and classing them as paedophiles and registering them on the sex offenders register. Merely for trying to do their jobs! If you teach, work in transport and come into contact with anyone under 18 you are most at risk!!

Mr Reid is ruining this country, children have total control over adults and we are heading for anarchy. Mr Reid is happy, his statistics for crime keep rising, to a point now where we have no room left in prison.

So in answer to your question Boris, no there are not as many peadophiles as we think thre are. Just many men that are wrongly branded as them, by Mr Reid and his ludicrous justice system!!
Posted by M Boltob on November 10, 2006 3:25 PM
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Management in British Airways is becoming increasingly obscure. First the employee who was disciplined for wearing a religious necklace and now the latest act of lunacy involving the seating of male passengers. The fact that these are different forms of discrimination seems to have escaped them.

The basis for this change in policy is absurd. I was under the impression that paedophiles 'groom' their unfortunate victims over a long period of time prior to the abusive act. I would certainly be interested to see the statisitics of the number of acts of child abuse that have been initiated due to children sitting next to adult males on flights.

I can't see anyone getting my business if they choose to demonise me because of my gender.
Posted by David Roberts on November 10, 2006 3:18 PM
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Boris is absolutely spot-on! Our society is becoming one in which we trust nobody and assume the worst.
Posted by Peter & Libby Cutler on November 10, 2006 3:12 PM
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Boris, I like "UncleBob"'s comment posted 4.55 pm. About the referendum, I mean. You and I both know what the questions ought to be. I can't afford a website for it but I'm sure you can!

Would you do it? This is not just about manufactured Gremlins such as this business on which you comment, put up to us by our self-serving, authoritarian government and its slavish red-top tabloid media lackeys and running-dogs - It's about what this nation used to be and could be again once it has been repaired.

I sense that, like most of us who have commented on your piece, you want to repair it. Shall we try? I'd like that.

(Oh, and just by the way, "Boris Johnson for Prime Minister!" I just thought I'd get that one in, and I sense that the Queen would prefer you and your wife to come to Balmoral each summer, rather than Blair and his awful, cringe-making, rude, ill-mannered and grasping wife, whom I guess would even go so far, on such a visit, as to be rude and patronising to the poor Queen's Servants.)
Posted by David Davis on November 10, 2006 2:26 PM
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This must be a record number of responses to a Telegraph article. Start a campaign Boris to highlight just how crazy these laws have become and insist they be repealed. Raise this issue in Parliament at each and every opportunity... Why not stand at the next election as an independent on this issue alone in Blair's/Brown's constituency and see all the men vote just for you. That would be a real guide to public support on the matter.
Posted by Philip Baldwin on November 10, 2006 2:07 PM
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Boris Johnson is, of course, absolutely correct on this issue.

This is a blatant example of the all-too-common modern plague of dirscrimination against men. For men, things are going to get alot worse before they get better.

What's the point in being hysterically overprotective of children if half of those children - the MALE children - grow-up to become 2nd class citizens?
Posted by Colin Deane on November 10, 2006 1:33 PM
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The zeitgeist responsible for such policies has nothing to do with a concern for children - or for the well-being of any human being.

It is inspired, solely, by a feminist hatred of mankind. Even sordid, paranoid and hysterical suspicion plays little part. The people behind it know that the risk to minors, on a crowded airliner from the 50% of the human race that is male - of whom only a miniscule minority would be predisposed to taking sexual advantage of children, even in an environment of total privacy and seclusion - is non-existent.

The true evil here is demonstrated by feminists who simply wish, and are being allowed, to use air travel as yet another platform to proclaim their hatred of men - and their love of no one and nothing.

Shame, sorrow and woe on British Airways - and to every airline accommodating something which, ideologically, parallels anything that has soiled the souls and imaginations of the soothsayers and propogandists of every previous age - labelled now a 'crime against humanity'.
Posted by Peter Charnley. on November 10, 2006 12:30 PM
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One poster remarks about her concerns about the low level of convictions for rape. That is open to debate - it may indeed be a problem, but on the other hand false accusations are made and it is so serious for a man to get a rape conviction that proof really must be 'beyond reasonable doubt'. On the other hand this does not apply to men falsely accused of child sex offences. The large majority are convicted whether there is good proof of guilt or not (and no actual evidence is needed) and the jury's secret deliberations are final. The media must have had a role to play here in whipping up hysteria.
Posted by Oliver on November 10, 2006 12:12 PM
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Thalia,
You say that we are terrible at prosecuting rape so men should be guilty. However let me give an opinion. First thing to consider is that we should all be innocent until proven guilty, its the foundation of the law, to do otherwise is blatent discrimination.

Secondly is that in most rapes barring violence the evidence would be present for both sides of the story (rape/consensual sex), providing the accused is not silly enough to say nothing happened. From this point you must then consider that this is essentially a he said/she said situation which should under a criminal court (barring obvious violence etc) result in the case being dismissed (proof beyond a reasonable doubt).

You also note that drinking etc are ways to blame the victim, while this may be partly true I don't 100% blame the mugger who mugs me when drunk, the mugger shouldn't do it but I do need to take sensible precautions else I am inviting trouble.

Finally there are cases of false accusation, and indeed even a case that is not falsely accused still takes the man's reputation through the mud. When the sexual assault laws make both sides anonymous until conviction (on penalty of 5-10?) then we might be slightly more fair.
Posted by Chris on November 10, 2006 12:00 PM
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Brilliant!

Well said sir, I am surprised Boris was allowed to sit next to his own children by BA staff.

What is the world coming to!
Posted by Peter Pojuner on November 10, 2006 11:33 AM
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Thank goodness for Boris'common sense and that of the majority of posters here. One poster above who claimed the solution is to lock up sex offenders for life is obviously oblivious to the fact that there are many innocent men filling up our prisons for sexual matters who were innocent. Anyone can make a false allegation with no evidence, and stands to make a large sum in compensation. Other men are being locked up after acts which were not intended as sexual at all and were misunderstood, or for very minor incidents of sexual boorishness for which a small fine or just an apology might have sufficed. This is becasue our country's hysteria makes the CPS nearly always press charges and juries think 'better safe than sorry'.
Posted by Oliver on November 10, 2006 11:04 AM
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Well before long every man in the country will be labelled a peodophile as false allegations happen every day and sadly these men are convicted on one person's word with no proof or evidence, so incidents like BA will be common practice.
Posted by karen on November 10, 2006 10:01 AM
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Wonderful comments Boris. Your anaylsis - that the systematic elimination of male authority everywhere is due to policies put in place by powerful figures is of course correct. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. A politically motivated movement is always hard at work in high places. It aims to destroy all forms of authority and thus bring down society. Their main weapon is politically correct thought, in other words "anarchy". It takes very strong people to stand up aganist PC thinking which is designed to spread confusion and stifle common sense. It is what allows the treacherous policies behind what you write about to take root. It may already be too late to reverse this nation's decline and fall.
Posted by Jonathan Chapple on November 10, 2006 8:57 AM
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Good for you, Boris. This whole child protection business has got completely out of hand and most sensible people are feeling victimised by the rantings of authorities who are so terrified of being sued or criticised that they go along with the imposition of ridiculous rules and regulations which defy all common sense. Of course some children know this and exploit the situation so that decent people, mostly men of course, are persecuted by unthinking authorities. In the long run it does children no good to isolate them from the real world - a tiny proportion of which just might be dangerous - as it prevents them from learning how to behave in life. Keep it up, Boris. You are not alone.
Posted by Elspeth Grisenthwaire on November 10, 2006 8:50 AM
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How I agree with Boris. As a woman I can see how difficult it can be for fathers. I wanted my father with me everywhere I went - even making him stay at a Brownie rally with me when I was seven, where he was the only male present. I was always hugging him and loved him dearly. Are we being encouraged to think this wrong? I've since had a loving family and children of my own. The idea that proximity to them is wrong is a joke.
Posted by Penny Hawker (Mrs) on November 10, 2006 6:58 AM
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Once again Boris has hit the nail on the head! His humourous tales take nothing from the strong and forthright portrayal of what is wrong with our country today. A voice of common sense in this touchy and insanely politically correct world!
Posted by Sandra Wright on November 10, 2006 5:58 AM
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I severely doubt that even a sex offender would abuse a child on a plane with over a hundred people on it. This policy is sexist and was created as a result of paranoia. If I were treated in such an insulting manner, I would have gotten off the plane and formed a protest to speak against this sexist policy. All I can say, men, is times for us are getting ever worse. We may have to get into owning private jets so that we can avoid being discriminated against. I live in the States, but I'm certain such a thing could happen in this country amid all of this child molestation hysteria. Men should fight back and stop using public transportation unless it is extremely neccessary. When the transit systems see that they are losing huge sums of money, I guarantee you they'll come up with a more reasonable approach to protecting children on flights rather than resorting to an insultingly sexist and discriminatory one. If men don't fight back, things like this will continue.
Posted by Max on November 10, 2006 5:08 AM
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Well said as ever, Boris. Keep it up.
Posted by Elspeth on November 10, 2006 4:20 AM
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1. Fly someone other than BA, I fly Malaysian Airlines / Singapore whenever possible wonderful service, in UK I try to fly virgin
2. Shakespeare got it right "kill all the lawyers"
3. This is perhaps the thin end of the wedge "men unfit to raise kids" then govmt promotes "only people fit to raise kids is the state!"
Posted by Ian on November 10, 2006 3:55 AM
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Pat McGrane's letter stating that kids should be kept in the hold reminded me of a BCal flight I took from Gatwick to Dubai over 20 years ago. On boarding, I found I had the misfortune to sit in front of two little horrors, both of whom had commenced destroying the plane from the inside out, even before take-off. It was clear from the offset that their parents had disowned them both, well, for the duration of the flight anyway.

After two hours of seat-kicking, cushion throwing and peanut hurling by the kids I finally snapped and called the stewardess. On finishing the long list of 'crimes' these two little terrorists had committed, the stewardess replied, in typical BCal fashion, that she would ask the Captain if the kids could play outside.

Ah, BCal, STILL the best airline in the world!
Posted by stephen colinson on November 10, 2006 2:43 AM
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A couple of weeks ago I was walking through Harrow with my son. We came across four youths of about 12 who were uprooting "For Sale" signs and one of the little darlings started walking off with one. When I shouted at him to put it back I was rewarded with the now standard "Who do you think you are, a paedophile?" A couple of women looked daggers at me and I am afraid I got rather heated and asked what the hell they would do if they saw a crime being committed by these ill-disciplined, "know their rights", little b******s (choose suitable expletive. Needless to say the police weren't the slightest bit interested. I sit on the Young person's Panel on Harrow Council, Just watch the fireworks as I lay into these bleeding-heart, dangerous, finger-wagging lunatics. They are the REAL child abusers... Boris for Party Leader!!!
Posted by Cllr. Jeremy Zeid (Harrow) on November 10, 2006 1:07 AM
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Dear Boris
I read your article with interest and yes I agree how ridiculous it is that every man is now regarded as a potential paedophile. But think how much worse it is if you're gay! In the U.S. some of the more rabid right wingers of the Republican party are using the scandal of the politician who texted dirty messages to young pages as evidence that "this is what gay people are like". Now you know what it's like to have people make judgements about you based on nothing more than prejudice and ignorance. It's something we have to live with daily.
Posted by Glen Hague on November 9, 2006 11:53 PM
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Thank God (whichever that may be) for Boris Johnson - Voice of Reason. We need more like him before we get our collective knickers in such a twist that even 'nanny' can't help us untie them.
Posted by Lynne on November 9, 2006 11:35 PM
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If ever passenger profiling becomes sufficiently refined, there is no way that I would be allowed to sit next to a child on any public transport. Why?... because I am in my fifties, single (never married) and I have hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs of children on my computers. And why?
Because I happen to be a professional photographer who makes a living by photographing (in addition to weddings, families and commercial work) lots of babies and young children in my studio, and in schools, nurseries and playgroups. I am straight, and happily partnered.
But I bet that up to that point the warning bells were sounding for most readers of this piece. And a 'jobsworth' would have me marked as a potential paedophile in a trice, which is really quite intimidating in itself - I don't relish being banished to some far-flung part of an aircraft/train/bus on the basis of 'guilty until proved innocent'.
I fully endorse your criticism of the insidious, and increasingly overt, spread of this 'loony hysteria', as you quite rightly call it.
All power to your elbow, Boris !
Posted by Steve Wood on November 9, 2006 11:29 PM
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A couple of years ago I had just left a supermarket in Atlanta Georgia and was walking to my car when a 2 or 3 year old asian child tottered in front of me from behind a parked car. I looked around for his parents but no adults were in sight. I then thought that he must have come out of the supermarket ahead of his parents. He was at exteme risk of being flattend by the next SUV rolling in so, without another thought I wisked him up in my arms and walked back into the shop. A chinese lady was paying at the nearest checkout and as I approached she threw her arms up in the air and rushed over chattering away in Chinese (I guess)I handed over the lad who was reaching out for mum and I though she was going to kiss me she was so greatful, the body language said everything. After reading this article by Boris Johnson I thank my lucky stars that I didn't do this in Chelsea. I wonder now how I would handle that situation if it were to happen again, that is the real tragedy of this crazy thinking.
Posted by Keith Manton on November 9, 2006 10:50 PM
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Women also suffer these aspersions. I was swimming last week with my 2 boys aged 8 and 10. I grew cold in the tepid water of our local public baths, climbed out ,dried and dressed. I then stood by the edge of the pool to watch the boys prowess (climbing along an inflatable desert island) Despite their frequent calls of Mummy Watch! I was asked to leave the pool and wait in the cafe as they had a no spectator policy as part of a local child watch initiative. I could have undressed and stood in the pool in my bathing suit but was not allowed to stand dressed by the poolside. Prudhoe Waterworld in Northumberland, you have been named and shamed!
Posted by Heidi Williams on November 9, 2006 10:50 PM
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Dear Boris,

Last Tuesday doing the decent thing, my husband unwittingly entered the world of Hades a place where a simple neighbourly act was deemed to be incomprehensible and where the implication was that his intentions were less than upstanding.
Two boys, children of a friend, walked in from school to find that Mummy was less than well, in fact she was so off-colour that they zoomed around to us, knowing that as a GP, a GP in the relative sanity of Henley-on-Thames, that there was a reasonable chance that I would have some idea of what to do. Being out, my husband took charge, ascertained after having a natter with me that the patient was going to need a hospital bed. He summoned the ambulance and within moments the paramedics arrived and loaded the patient on board. My husband told the boys to gather their bags and some PJs and they would come and stay with us for the night. ‘Oh Dearie, Dearie me’ – this was clearly a heinous crime. Apparently this was not going to happen according to the paramedics, for how on earth were they to know that my husband did not habour some very nasty desires. The boys would need to be put into the hands of Social Services for the night.
At this point the boys burst into tears, pleading to stay with us and the phone was handed to me. ‘Yes we know Dr Silver who you are, but you see, it just is not possible’ ‘But’ I spluttered ‘ As far as I know, my husband is not a hatchet wielding, crack den operative with a passing interest in paedophilia’ ‘There are three children in our house and I will be home in 1 hour’ ‘Nope’ Sorry’ ‘No can do’ In the background Tim was raging ‘Look my good man, my wife is Dr Silver, you know who she is, the boys know who she is, and more astonishing, I know who she is, she is even spearheading the campaign to save the hospital from whence you have just been dispatched’ ‘ No, can do Dr Silver, you will of course understand the position we find ourselves in, how can we be certain that the boys will be safe with your husband and you, particularly as they will be sleeping in your house’ ‘Sorry chaps’ I was thinking, ‘I really don’t understand your position – I really don’t think I do’. Then a chink of light, if we could find a relative who could say that the boys, who were by this stage wailing about being dragged off by some stranger, then all would be well with the world. So after much scurrying around we found the number of a male relative who said ‘ Well of course the boys can stay over’ at which point the paramedics vanished with ‘Well that will be fine then’

Sheer and utter lunacy.

By the way, my husband has come up with a cunning plan next time he is on BA with the children. He is going to call over the hostess and mouth to her that he has unfeasibly nasty tendencies and under no circumstances can he be entrusted to sit anywhere near any youngsters and if they could see their way to getting him one of those flat beds up the pointy end of the plane, he will give them his utmost assuarance that he will keep his odious habits to himself.

Lisa Silver


Posted by Dr Lisa Silver on November 9, 2006 10:28 PM
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As a retired college lecturer how true is the PC correctness gone bad. Shortly before I retired I was warned that I was unwise to place my hand on the shoulder of a sixteen year old male student to console him either he had experienced a personal sadness of the death of a relative.

Constantly now as I carry out support work for fathers in family contact disputes I read and hear false allegations of abuse as women attempt to deprive children of contact with their fathers.

Well done Boris, only by illustrating that our society has gone bonkers over political correctness will this stupidity be ended.
Posted by Chris hawkins on November 9, 2006 10:24 PM
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Boris Johnson hits the spot yet again. As a grandfather, I was so incensed by the article about the journalist and his wife that I started to write to the Editor, before words failed me and I gave up. I'm glad I didn't bother now, as BJ has dissected the whole problem more elegantly and accurately than I could ever manage. How dare he be so effortlessly eloquent - and right!
Posted by Richard Taylor on November 9, 2006 10:06 PM
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The problem starts with parents not being prepared to keep their eyes on their children and spend time educating them about the world around them. We are now a nation of child avoiders because we feel that people look suspiciously at us if we speak to children. Could I be becoming a conspiracy theorist if I suggest that this is fostered by the Government's daft laws 'protecting' us from every conceivable ill except being strangled by bureaucracy? No wonder children are disaffected. Does the same situation not extend to terrorism? Did we all rush to have ID cards when the IRA were blowing up the country? I recall that they had more bombs than the recent lot. Blair is a control freak and wants us all in little boxes so that we can be milked for his ridiculous schemes. Aren't we all a lot of idiots to suffer it? Where, incidentally, are the Opposition parties, Boris, who should be standing up for our rights?
Posted by ted buck on November 9, 2006 10:00 PM
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Without counting, it would appear that Boris has tremendous support for his views and not just on this subject. When will the "bossyboots" brigade realise the contempt and derision in which they are viewed. Keep it up Boris, at least we get one sane column a week.
Posted by Brian Box on November 9, 2006 9:50 PM
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"Under the Sex Discrimination Act it is against the law for businesses to discriminate against men or women in the ‘goods, facilities and services’ they provide. This means refusing a service or deliberately not providing it on the same terms and of the same quality. It covers things that are free, or paid-for, and covers:

...

travel and transport services that are public or offered by private companies"
Posted by Bob Doney on November 9, 2006 9:43 PM
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Absolutely right. Scenario: 35 year old man walking along the pavement, 8 year old lad on bike riding towards him, also on the pavement. Kiddie falls off bike some 3 yards (metres) before the man. Blood gushing from knee-cap. Does the man: (a) rush over to assist by stemming the flow with his handkerchief, or (b) start walking rapidly in the opposite direction? I know which I would do.
Posted by John Baillot on November 9, 2006 9:29 PM
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Hooray. Someone speaking out against the assumption that we are all guilty. My wife & I are in our 60s, we have been married for 41 years with 4 lovely children (all married) and 11 grandchildren.
Yet if we want to help occasionally with things like children's parties at our church we will have to be CRB checked.
Nobody in our family has a criminal record. We are all law-abiding & church attenders and I object to the intrusion of the CRB. As recent cases have shown, none of this CRB rubbish actually prevents paedophiles from reoffending.
Posted by Robin on November 9, 2006 9:08 PM
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Why not hit BA where it hurts. Those males who have been publicly humiliated by the draconian antics of this airline should band together and bring a class action suit against it, to the tune of a billion or so. That should get their attention.
Posted by Peter on November 9, 2006 8:54 PM
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England is fortunate to have a politician with the fortitude to express this opinion. In America ( The Land of the Free ), the politician would either lose his job or get poisoned by the Whistling Weasel Gang, which openly and notoriously poisons whomever they choose while the craven government just watches. There is big money in hysteria.
Posted by avraam jack on November 9, 2006 8:51 PM
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Avid Private Eye reader that I am, I used to regard Borris as somewhere between highly eccentric and slightly mad, depending on what he'd been up to lately. I humbly take it all back Borris, it's not you mate, it's pretty much everyone else; we've all gone insane.

It wouldn't be so bad if B.A. (and the whole pseudo safety culture) devised loony rules like this for the sake of the children, but they don't. Their real concern is to cover their backs against lawyers and insurance claims (mostly spurious) and shock horror 'revelations' in the media.
Posted by Richard on November 9, 2006 8:48 PM
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This is also a problem in the U.S. I will never even talk to a child unless the parent is someone that I know and is present.
Posted by Thomas Hebel on November 9, 2006 8:40 PM
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Thank you for your timely article on paedophiles. How's this for insanity? In 1974 the government mandated that children of any age can get contraceptives from clinics and doctors with the full assurance of confidentiality i.e., no one will tell their parents. Yet parents are held responsible in law for the behaviour of their children. Does the right hand of the government know what its left hand is doing ?

Keep at it Boris!


Posted by Valerie Riches on November 9, 2006 8:19 PM
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Boris,
I absolutely agree. Just how much can a paedophile achieve on an aircraft anyway? And what are parents doing letting their children fly unaccompanied or if accompanied, then unattended? If the child is in BA's care as a minor on the flight, as happens, then of course BA can take whatever steps it deems appropriate to protect the child. But otherwise, we men are being backed into a corner where we feel unable to even say Good Day to a child. I have given up being 'correct' and have reverted to treating children with the degree of friendship for which I can openly account to anyone, including specifically their parents. Keep on writing, Boris. Bernard Levin would be proud of you!
John Moore
Posted by John Moore on November 9, 2006 8:07 PM
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When I find myself next to kids I call the flight attendent and ask to get THEM moved. who want's to sit next to someone else's obnoxious progeny on a long flight? We should keep them all in the hold.
Posted by Pat McGrane on November 9, 2006 7:56 PM
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The marginalisation of men is desperately sad and the consequences to all are painful. The difficulty is the loss of trust.
It is the pervert minority who have always existed that have caused this and it's the states inability to protect us from them that has generated this mistrust.
For example, because it is virtually impossible to get a conviction for rape now, even in the most appalling circumstances, ("she said she liked it rough and she was wearing a short skirt and had had a drink") all men must be regarded as potential rapists. If we could have faith in the system to convict brutal perverts, we wouldn't have to call all men guilty until proven innocent.
It's horrible all round but at least you, as a grown man,only run the risk of getting mildly embarrassed while women and children have to eternally worry about getting raped and then not believed by the courts, even if they have the guts (and the Crown Prosecution Service can be bothered) to go to court.
The first time I narrowly avoided getting raped I was twelve. The last time I was thirty. Luckily I am surprisingly good in a fight for a small woman and although I got beaten up I was not raped but a number of my friends in similar circumstances at all ages were not as lucky, most of them were attacked at one time or another, and not one conviction or even court case resulted anywhere.
Women and children are on our own out here against the perverts and you can't blame us for running scared or taking what have to be regarded as sensible precautions in the light of the fact that if we don't take them then it is regarded as our fault if we get raped. Having said all that Airlines are a bit mad and I avoid flying like the plague. They treat EVERYBODY like criminals.
Posted by Thalia on November 9, 2006 7:55 PM
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Absolutely right about male teachers. As a head of Primary for 28 years ,and Ofsted inspector since inception, I am totally disheartened by the low numbers of male teachers in Primary schools.Infants schools rarely have a male T. and they are fewer and fewer in Juniors. Heads and governors often say they would like male teachers, but they are just not there.It is so important that children should have male role models, which they also frequently lack at home. This is not a criticism of female teachers, most are doing a fantastic job, but there is no doubt that boys especially often react positively to male teachers when in their younger years. It is absolutely clear that in the last twenty years male teachers have been discouraged from primary teaching by firstly, the fears outlined by Boris Johnson, and secondly the particular male aversion to the production of vast amounts of detailed planning and paperwork demanded of teachers.
Posted by rod braithwaite on November 9, 2006 7:46 PM
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John Bernard Platt on November 9, 2006 5:58 PM
You sir are a grade A. First class. Muppet.

If it's not one thing it's another. We've all got to be scared of something. Paedophiles do exist, I won't argue with that, but they are so rare we should lock specimens in a zoo rather than prison, if you see my point. Every street... no. Just like everyone with a brown face isn't going to blow up and everyone on the internet isn't a sexual predator.
Posted by Sarah Hayes on November 9, 2006 7:45 PM
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Nice one, Boris. I couldn't agree more. The world has gone mad!
Posted by Jill on November 9, 2006 7:32 PM
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Does this mean all the children will have to sit next to women now? As a woman, I object. If everybody pays the same fare, everbody should have an equal risk of sitting next to the noisy or otherwise objectionable passenger.
Posted by M.C. on November 9, 2006 7:29 PM
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Thank goodness we have an MP like Boris to speak
up for common sense and to identify with such
clarity the disastrous results of the current cult of
excessive and irrational paedophiliphobia.

When his party is elected, will they have the courage
and will to remedy the situation? I hope so.
Posted by Robin Don on November 9, 2006 7:26 PM
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If you agree that things have gone too far, I encouarge you to sign this petition to be sent to the UK parliament opposing the expansion of vetting to almost a third of the UK working population:

link


Posted by Patrick on November 9, 2006 7:21 PM
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Next stop segregated public transport! much simpler train children/adolescents to stand & give seats to adults
Posted by kirke on November 9, 2006 7:16 PM
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This is yet another comment on the insanity that is gripping the world. Look at the draconian proposition approved by the voters in California where convicted sex offenders are required to wear GPS bracelets so they can be monitored at all times. Civil liberties? Never mind. PC is totally out of control and it is only getting worse.
Posted by Paul Wolkovits on November 9, 2006 7:13 PM
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B Johnson is absolutely right.

Education in this country has been "feminised". When I started teaching - 1967 - we had Saturday morning sports taken by young male teachers - all unpaid volunteers. When I retired (early and dispirited), male teachers had become rarities in primary schools.
Posted by Adrian on November 9, 2006 7:02 PM
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Thank god for Boris-one can always rely on him to tell it "like it is"
Posted by Don Truman on November 9, 2006 7:02 PM
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I can't help contrasting attitudes today to my youth, growing up in the 70s and 80s. I remember hitch hiking 8 miles or so home from school (aged 12 or 13)in the dark after a detention. At 16 we were adult enough to spend the entire summer holiday walking and hitching through France. Teachers and those in authority thought would have called it "character building", mostly it was fun.
I left school equipped to deal with problem situations, knowing how to look after myself and today run businesses employing over a hundred people.
Taking away all risk is robbing kids of a childhood.

Posted by barry on November 9, 2006 6:44 PM
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Several correspondents have suggested the place to make his point is in parliament and perhaps the huge support for the article shown here will encourage Boris in this respect. For me the utterly fatuous contribution of David Cameron unfortunately says all we need to know about the official position of Her Majesty's Opposition.
Posted by Graham on November 9, 2006 6:42 PM
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When I first read the article the following story sprang to mind:
In 1955 a petite 42 year old black woman named Rosa Parks lived in Montgomery, Alabama. One evening, Rosa was riding in the colored section at the back of the bus. Once all the seats were filled at the front of the bus for the white people, the driver said, "Gimmie those front seats!" When Rosa refused, the driver said, "I’ll have you arrested." Rosa still refused and the police were called. Two police officers approached Rosa. She said, "Why do you push us around?" One officer responded, "The law is the law and we are arresting you." This event helped start the end to the segregation laws in the south.

Posted by Barry Gaynor on November 9, 2006 6:37 PM
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In answer to Jane's earlier point at 5:34, the EU has nothing to do with BA's arrogant policy.

If you visit other comparable EU countries (like France and Germany) you will not see or experience any anti-male feeling. Men are treated as fellow human beings and not suspected as potential rapists and molesters.

If a kid, in the company of his parents on a bus or in a restaurant, smiles at a man, he is expected to smile and wave back. It's good manners. But if he responded like that in the UK his feet wouldn't touch the ground as he is whisked off to the nearest cell.

This is not an EU problem, but a uniquely British one.
Posted by Lew on November 9, 2006 6:32 PM
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Well said Boris.I agree with everything you wrote.What a load of nonsence and what over reaction.If a child falls over in a shopping centre and a parent is not close at hand one dare not try to give the little soul any comfort or help in any way for fear of being accused of being a paedophile.What is our Country coming to.
Posted by Bill Harrison on November 9, 2006 6:30 PM
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My husband was recently banned from entering the children's changing rooms in Debenhams in Manchester, whilst trying to help our son buy some trousers. Women with children were allowed in. Surely this is discrimination?
Posted by j higgins on November 9, 2006 6:03 PM
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Dear Boris, I agree with absolutely every word of your article, but can you tell me what the Conservative Party plans to do about it. Hugging a hoody sounds a bit dodgy! It appears to the large majority of Conservative supporters that the leadership are preoccupied with so called political correctness i.e. avoiding media criticism. Most supporters see this as hypocracy. Political correctness should mean making the right policies for the right reasons irrespective of what the media might say. The country is in such a state with a government bending over backwards terrified to upset any minority groups on the grounds of human rights that it's about time somebody spoke for the majority. Please let it be the Conservative leadership.
Posted by Mike Gaunt on November 9, 2006 6:01 PM
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Dear Boris, I would say that there is one peodophile in every street, on average. You must have been fortuneate enough to have lead a very sheltered childhood. If you want to know more about those wretched people, just spend some time in the chat-rooms. The world is full of 'em
Posted by john bernard platt on November 9, 2006 5:58 PM
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The marginalisation of men is draining away our culture and our national spirit. It goes beyond the decline of physics, maths and engineering skills. The lamentable performance of our national football team is another casualty; we have simply lost the ability to apply ourselves to any task or to be able to organise ourselves in any sort of dynamic or constructive way. Our footballers do not lack technical skill and, deep down are talented, but cannot organise themselves on the field because nobody has ever taught them leadership. We do not even have any worthwhile home-grown managers because our cultural and educational failings run so deep. Imagine an English Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger.... Our feminised society has ensured their extinction.
Posted by Charles Proudfoot on November 9, 2006 5:53 PM
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And another thing, a few months ago I went to the doctors to get some lumps checked to make sure they weren't breast cancer (I know, another hysteria) but when the male doctor had to check he asked if I'd rather a female doctor. Now he may have said this because I was only 15 at the time but that struck me as odd and it had never occurred to me not to trust this man who had been hired by a health centre that I trusted. All I had come there for was a simple diagnosis and I had not the care for who did it so long as they were qualified. I expressed that I didn't mind at all but he insisted that there had to be a female present so he fetched a female secretary.
If I hadn't been fairly relaxed and not squemish at all about the situation, wouldn't it have seemed more uncomfortable having another person in the room, especially one who wasn't a doctor?
I have to agree with many of the other commenters that we need a solid and dependable prime minister like Boris Johnson. However many affairs he's had at least he won't mess up the affairs of the country like the government we have at the moment.
Posted by Susie Grumball on November 9, 2006 5:44 PM
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Well highlighted. The mounting paranoia in this country (brilliantly lampooned in the television series 'Monkey Dust' by the 'Paedo-Finder General') is largely a rather toxic by-product of tabloid hysteria. The likes of The News Of The World and The Sun have a lot to answer for. And try and imagine, those heterosexual men out there, what it's like if you're gay.
I joined friends of mine on a day trip recently, and when my three year old godson needed to use a toilet found myself frantically running around looking for his mother and her partner. It's not that I think she would be wary of allowing me to take him, but that this kind of prejudice exists in the minds of other acquaintances and family members - and how tragic is that?
Posted by David Llewellyn on November 9, 2006 5:44 PM
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As usual Boris puts his case in a direct and funny way. The way the world is going is worrying how can you now be near any child not directly related to you ? On the plus side can we hope for adult flights eg no little horrors behind kicking your seat... keep it up Boris
Posted by Mike Smith on November 9, 2006 5:39 PM
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It's appalling and probably unheard of anywhere else that a private company can make laws and act like the police to make sure that customers adhere to them.

What IS David Cameron's view on BA's policy?
Posted by Lew on November 9, 2006 5:34 PM
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As usual, Boris has hit the nail fairly and squarely. The only way out of this mess is to leave the EU; abolish all 'rights' without responsibilities; restore common sense, and this nations pride in itself. Our first responsibility must be to our own people, whatever their origins, creeds, or occupations.
Posted by Jane Allen-Melvin on November 9, 2006 5:34 PM
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We have lived in a small village (350 people) for 18 years. The son of a family which has lived near us all that time, was asked if he would like to walk our dogs with my husband. The boy (aged 11) went home to confirm with his mother that this would be OK, only to return to ask if our daughter (also aged 11) was going too. As she was not, the boy advised my husband that he wasn't allowed to go for a walk. When asked why, he advised that his mother said she didn't know my husband and therefore didn't want her son going to walk the dogs with him!

How long do you have to be neighbours before you can be trusted not to be a paedophile?
Posted by Janet - Gloucestershire on November 9, 2006 5:28 PM
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I couldn't agree more. My teacher told us to come up with a presentation of an argument on something we felt strongly about and I wrote it on this very subject. Paedophilia hysteria is ridiculous, all this effort and worry when there's close to pornographic scenes in 12s and 15s (films I mean) today and sex education from as soon as you learn the word condom. All we're fussing about is how to obsess on something so minor, which makes it all the more likely to happen due to temptation increase.
And please make them to unban fox hunting. They're killing all our chickens (and not eating them either). The foxes I mean, not the politicians.
Posted by susie on November 9, 2006 5:12 PM
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Once again BA has hit the wrong chord. Explain this one to me. suppose a peadophile did strike on an airplane. How would he/she hide the fact after a howling protesting child advertised the fact. Next, where would they run to. Out the nearest exit? Given that the person in the seat has given almost as much information about themselves to the airline as the government want to know about us does it not strike anyone as absurd that anyone should try to commit a crime such as this on an aircraft?

At least we have moved away from the femiNazi mantra of all men are rapists. Only half are. The rest are obviously peadophiles. BA are guilty of overreacting to the call of the PC left.

I have been a frequent flyer I no longer fly BA due to the rude and arrogant staff. This has merely reinforced that personal policy decision. The fact that as the national carrier they couldn't get the national flag off of the tails of their aircraft fast enough in the 90's
Posted by Steve Ipswich on November 9, 2006 5:09 PM
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Makes me wonder about school trips if the pupils are flying to their destination, e.g. foreign exchanges, ski trips. Will the male teachers be expected to not sit with their charges, and would this be breaking the DfEE policy on taking pupils on trips?


Posted by Michael Hall on November 9, 2006 5:03 PM
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It's refreshing to read a journalistic piece that actually makes sense and that doesn't pander to the latest political fashion. Common sense (let alone independent thought or insight) is becoming an increasingly rare commodity in our day and age, including in the national institution that is the Daily Telegraph.
Posted by Dr Neel Burton on November 9, 2006 4:59 PM
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So many people seem to agree with Boris, myself included, that I think he ought to run a national referendum, (including all sane expats like me), concerning the present state of the UK, with all the PC, Nanny State etc. I'm sure he could find the right questions to put in it, and I'm sure someone, perhaps even the newspapers, would run it for free. The interesting thing then, would be to see what would be the reaction of our "democratic government", of whatever party, to the results, which I am sure would prove Boris to be right. After all, we are basically talking about what most of used to see as ‘common sense’. Would things change? I would hope so, but I would very much doubt it. The bottom line is that people in authority don’t actually care for individuals, other than themselves; they care more about their political image. It's coming to a point of "If we have laws for everything, it’s not our fault, and we can blame everybody else." This applies to both the ‘loony left’ as it’s called, and the ‘raving right’. The same might also be said of heads of businesses; individuals don’t count, only shareholders, but therein lies another story for another day. Go for that one too please Boris!
Posted by Unclebob on November 9, 2006 4:55 PM
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Boris,

Very well said. The notion that never allowing a child to sit next to a strange male is god child safety policy is just as absurd as saying all Muslims are a danger to western freedoms. Such reactionary policy is as you clearly state damaging beyond the instant case of air travel seating arrangements. In the same week that the NSPCC points the finger of suspicion on all separated fathers, as a danger to their children because of media reported tragic tales of murderous fathers, we see yet another organisation Barnardo's supporting anti-male practices in favour of the greater good of child welfare. Such propaganda only serves to fuel the ever-increasing backlash that will be unleashed by increasingly demonised men and their decent supporters.

We already see the effect on our nations children caused by lack of male input and care, and the fact that dads these days are much more hands on than previous generations, means that not before too long all such men will fear accusations of inappropriate affection and revert to keeping a cold and unnatural distance from their offspring. This will make the bad situation of today, even worse. We need a Minister for Men to oversee and monitor such policies and ensure that gender stereotyping, anti-discrimination and anti-sexism and equality laws are applicable across the board.

Boris, will you and your party make waves to call for such a position? The men of our nation urgently need to be represented and respected, no more or less than women, just equal.
Posted by DaveT on November 9, 2006 4:50 PM
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Re paedophiles:
What rubbish you do spout! Personally I think you should have been put in the hold.The blame for the current state of affairs lies with
1.. THE MPS (you are one) who allow ill considered laws to be passed which produce fat fees for :
2...THE LAWYERS (your colleagues) who are represented by :
3.. THE LAW SOCIETY who say nothing about it or the :
4...THE EC which has undermined the laws relationship to the state.
Instead you blame the hapless airline executives. I hope they dump you on the floor of Heathrow airport for the night which seems to be their preferred form of punishment. Yours N.Bonsor


Posted by neil bonsor on November 9, 2006 4:48 PM
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About 15 years ago I booked with BA months in advance of a trip with my family, to Canada. My three sons were between 11 and 14 and this was their first flight. We argued loud and long with the BA staff at check-in that we should be grouped together as a family or at least in two groups each with a parent. We were deemed to be making an unecessary fuss and the family ended up all over the 'plane. Not that it was paedophiles we thinking about - just what could anyone get up to in those flying sardine tins? What is so galling is that the politically correct psychopaths who dream up these madnesses have such short memories. They are just as nauseatingly self-righteous when saying the opposite to what they were saying five minutes before.
Posted by John Lamble on November 9, 2006 4:46 PM
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At last someone has spoken out about the complete madness that has become acceptable wisdom in our so called civilised society. Why are men considered such a risk on a plane with any child? Just how much of a risk could there be ? Is that risk so much less if the same child is sat next to a stranger lady? For goodness sake!
Posted by worth Quarrie on November 9, 2006 4:41 PM
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Far worse is the fear of children now developing in adults. Who knows what mischief can be caused in 20 years time by a malicious person? In this cult 'the safety of the child is paramount' we have lost the principle that 'justice is paramount'
Adults have much to fear from children!!
Posted by Mr T E Doyle on November 9, 2006 4:31 PM
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Interesting article, does this mean when my husband and I (now in post-children mode) go on a trip we can expect to be sat well away from any small children?! What bliss!!

Regards
Penny White


Posted by Penny White on November 9, 2006 4:29 PM
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Boris for P.M Certainly Not!!!!
Posted by David Cameron on November 9, 2006 4:26 PM
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Thank goodness for Boris and others like him.
Where will children learn their social skills if they cannot freely mix with adults?We live in a period of madness as decreed by a small minded vociferous minority who have lost all sense of proportion and reasoning.
As a child who used the public transport system daily to get to and from school I was ,correctly, chastised on a frequent basis and this helped to form respect for others particularly my elders.
Our Sportsmaster and Mistress were not averse to offering the option of the gym shoe or rope as punishment for misbehaviour and I don't believe it has affected me in any adverse way. However it may be that as I am only 67 it is too early to be certain about this.
Some of the pleasures as a child was being able to go out with the milkman during school holidays and 'assist' with the deliveries. In truth all I wanted to do was hold the reins and get Dobbin to break into a gallop.I was in the Cubs, Boy Scouts, Boys Brigade and from 13 was cycling around Scotland camping and Hostelling.I was never abused in any way and I am sure the balance within the community has not changed over the years.Yes there are those who will prey on children and once caught we should ignore the pleas of another set of woollie thinkers and lock them up until they are no longer capable of offending again.Just don't tar the whole male population with the same brush.
Posted by M. Fergusson on November 9, 2006 4:26 PM
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Of course, the idiots at BA, where they to find children next to me on a flight but with a vacant seat next to Rosemary West, would immediately move the children to sit next to her.

Political Correctness, 1 : Benefit to the Child, nil
Posted by steve gouldstone on November 9, 2006 4:25 PM
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Dear Mr.Johnson, I laughed like a drain reading your column this morning. Congratulations on an article which was as poignant as it was hilariously funny.

Well done that man.
Posted by Peter on November 9, 2006 4:21 PM
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This country is knackered.Pure and simple.Knackered
Posted by Michael Rigby on November 9, 2006 4:14 PM
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How many paedophiles can there be? If there is one that is one too many. As the mother of a daughter who was sexually assaulted at the age of three and a half and has taken until she was Forty one to deal with it, none of you know anything about what it is like to suffer with this problem. I do not necessarily agree with BA's approach but I know what it is like to deal with the aftermath of abuse and an abuser abuses the whole family not just the child. Get the balance right in Society but dont forget the victims. Be less GUNG HO and FLIP Boris and you will have greater credibility.
Posted by Christine Toms on November 9, 2006 4:12 PM
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Surely they should have been more concerned if Boris was sitting next to a woman.
Posted by TimberWolf on November 9, 2006 4:08 PM
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Hear Hear, thanks Boris for your good sense, and congrats on having the courage to express it so clearly. Let's hear more, and hope that it eventually reaches a wide enough audience for common sense to prevail.
Posted by Pam Richards on November 9, 2006 4:04 PM
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The BA ban on unrelated males being seated next to children is, actually, very sensible. This is because of the fact some children travel alone in the charge of BA, or in a different aisle to parents. It is therefore sensible for the airline to ensure their safety to the highest degree. Moving a male passenger takes no effort, so why not do it? Please do not take it as implied guilt or as offensive, I certainly don't. The risk of a paedophile is low, but the potential damage high. So why not be careful? The risk of a plane crash is low but I still want it inspected. I wouldn't want my 9 year old sister seated beside a strange male on a flight without a family member's supervision.

Attatching your logic to schools is not sensible however. You are wrong to suggest there is assumed guilt on male teachers. This is certainly not why the numbers are declining - it has far more to do with crazy health and safety laws, a dull curriculum, and the fact education is practically all Marxist-feminist in origin now.

Perhaps if we locked paedophiles away and never let them out we wouldn't have this problem.
Posted by David on November 9, 2006 3:54 PM
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They are lurking behind every tree and lamp post! How neurotic we are these day's. Many children are growing up with so few male role models in their lives. When they go into the workplace they will be so nervous if they have a male boss - if they get a ticking off they will be in tears. Poor boss - it is going to be so difficult to know how to handle these young people.
Posted by MARGARET jOYCE on November 9, 2006 3:54 PM
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On a recent trip to Stowe, Vermont, USA, I was often asked to accompany minors on the chair lifts. I did not have to have a security check. The attitude of trust prevailed.
Posted by Adrian Cumming on November 9, 2006 3:51 PM
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When I was thirty an aunt left me some money,
some of which I used to set up a charity called
Rainbow Children's Holidays to give regular
holidays to city children age 7-13 yrs who would
other wise never get a break. We converted two
buses a la Cliff Richard's film 'Summer Holiday'
and took on University students or trainee
teachers as supervisors. Each bus slept 11
chilldren and we toured merrily around England
every Summer and Spring. It was a wonderful
scheme and over 21 years we gave thousands of
holidays. Everybody got so much out of this
scheme and we were supported everywhere with
money and help. Gradually the climate turned to
one of official suspicion where every member of
our staff had to be vetted and were almost
assumed to be up to no good unless they could
prove otherwise - particularly all the male staff.
We began to only recruit females but the trouble
was that many of the children had no father and
what they all longed for was male company. In
the end we received a government directive
saying that no member of staff should ever be
alone with a child. We closed down the charity
and gave all its assets away - we just couldn't
run residential holidays under these rules. As a
result we, and many other holiday schemes for
deprived children have closed down - it's just too
hairy - the res

I'm hardly surprised. The general stupidity of society as a whole is reaching unmatched 'heights' the past couple of years and it doesn't look as if it's getting any better either.

But i guess it's not enough that we have to endure the frustration and annoyance of incompetent governing... and the inability to even take positive action in that department without the support of a whole bunch of people who really do not support your ideas at all... No, we DO need private sectors forming their own dumb-ass policies now.

The number of female child sex offenders is negligible. They exist, but they're very rare.

Even so, I agree with those here who say treating all males as suspects is ludicrous.