Chilling outlook

The article by Stuart Waiton (Perspective, 8 May), is a chilling reminder of the sort of society that some of those in government plan for us.

He outlined the plan launched by the children’s minister in the current Scottish administration to appoint every child a “state guardian from birth”.

Ignoring the obvious fact that this will be immensely expensive, the implications for the freedom of the individual are clear: the state will be keeping an eye on you and monitoring you, as well as your offspring.

Now, this is something we have all seen coming as simply a part of the overall policy of controlling society in the usual, paternalistic way that such organisations do – and entirely for our own good, of course – in keeping with the general timbre of thinking emanating from the European Union.

We, as tax-paying electors, are not mature enough to decide things for ourselves, so the power of decision will be taken from us and deposited in the hands of unelected and unaccountable commissioners.

Similarly, in the case of the guardians proposed by the SNP and the welfare of the child, hitherto the responsibility of people formerly known as “parents”. We have seen this before in the likes of China and Nazi Germany, where the state controlled children and encouraged them to clipe on their parents if they did not toe the party line.

Andrew HN Gray

Edinburgh