NO2NP: Say No to the Named Person scheme in Scotland

At the end of May I blogged about the Scottish Government's named person scheme. As I quoted Stuart Waiton saying in that post:

The new act will mean that, from birth, each child in Scotland will have a specific state-appointed professional, a ‘named person’, to oversee their interests, and, in particular, to oversee their safety. Initially, this named person is likely to be a health visitor or midwife, the role later being taken over by school teachers who will have the ‘duty’ and responsibility to act as the child’s guardian.

Now another Spiked article, this time by Josie Appleton, has alerted me to the existence of the NO2NP group.

It has made the video above, and its website says:

The Scottish Government’s planned Named Person scheme will undermine parents’ authority over their own children and allow state officials unprecedented powers to interfere with family life. That’s why so many are saying NO2NP.

Josie Appleton's article brings out just how sinister the named person scheme can be:

The day-to-day role of a named person is to follow ‘reports’ about a child, to keep an eye on their files. They will have rights to see private medical reports, and to request information about that child from other agencies (there is a legal ‘duty to help named person’). One couple – in an area where the scheme is already up and running – were told by a paediatrician that their named person would be informed if they missed their child’s hospital appointment. The couple were furious: ‘we have not given our consent’. ... 

In case studies from the areas where the scheme is up and running, named persons appear to work against the interests of children as well parents. In one case, a named person helped to report a young man to the police, for comments he made about his deputy headmistress on a blog. In another, a mother had to flee the Highlands (where the Named Persons Scheme is already operating) because officials were holding secret meetings to determine the fate of her sick teenage son.

There is nothing in nationalism that guarantees the liberties of the Scottish people. Appeals to that nation's tradition can be used to justify anything - malign or benign.