Columns

I commend the good sense of Lincolnshire County Council for backing down over the issue of Mr McCullough allowing his seven year old daughter Isabelle to walk twenty metres to the Bus Stop every morning. It is nice to hear that parents are still allowed to bring up their children.

Many people my age will fondly recall their daily journey, often on foot, to the world of wonder and learning. Whilst I am not advocating a policy of forced hiking before the 9am start, The chaos which lay in the wake of Isabelle’s 20metre stroll to the bus stop is a sad comment on the Nanny State mentality. However, I find the outcome encouraging.

Our new government has put emphasis on reclaiming personal responsibility. With responsibility returned to the individual, people will rediscover their freedom to determine their futures both as individuals and a nation. The Nanny State is expensive, unviable and a menace to this concept of freedom.

The government’s top priority is to give people the power to live as they chose, without constant intervention and scrutiny. A big state breeds scrutiny, just as a big society creates freedom. A girl’s walk to the bus stop shouldn’t dominate public attention so easily and soon I hope it won’t. Wonder and learning aren’t acquired from curtain twitching. The laughable irony of this particular case is that Isabelle will now have to be escorted to the Bus Stop every morning as the media interest in this story has advertised the time, location and image of a lone seven year old child to the general public.