The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Those in support of the new vetting and barring scheme for adults who help out regularly at children's sports clubs etc seem to have missed the other reason for the lack of enthusiasm among us tediously uncooperative parents. It's not just the cost, and the nuisance, it's the fact that most of us don't believe that schemes like this protect children from abuse.

The most dangerous place for children, statistically, is their own homes. But we can't vet and bar parents, or parents' boyfriends, or lodgers, so we have this instead. It's a well meant waste of - potentially - 11.3 million people's time, but let's not kid ourselves that it's solving the main problem. For every Ian Huntley, or Ian Brady, there are many abusive and murderous parents. Sometimes it almost seems as though the government wants us not to remember this. I wonder why.

Made from 70% recycled stupidity

I take glucosamine for my knee, which is - marginally - cheaper on prescription. When I went to get it from the chemist recently, I was given the 180 tablets in SIX containers. Each had 30 pills loitering at the bottom of an otherwise empty pot. Ridiculous, I thought, so I decanted the lot into one, and took the other five back to be reused. The pharmacist laughed at the idea.

"Oh no!" she said, as if I were mad. "We throw them away."

I tried another chemist the next time, and got exactly the same packaging - and response. The company responsible for this ludicrous waste? Alliance Healthcare, whose paper bags bear the legend: 'Made from 70% recycled paper', along with the usual meaningless slogan: 'Bringing Healthcare Closer.' Closer to what? Landfill, presumably.