Legal stupidity

THE proposal to introduce a version of the so-called Clare’s law in Scotland (your report, 9 May) is yet another example of the state assuming responsibility for individuals’ life choices, and only the latest of its kind where government seeks to ensure good outcomes in the vexed area of personal and family life.

The call for something to be done about “revenge porn” will no doubt also result in some hastily drafted law.

Such laws are unlikely to achieve all that is claimed.

When the state seeks to protect individuals from their own ignorance or stupidity there is a limit to what can effectively be done.

The problem appears to be that politicians of all parties have no awareness of the limitations of their own powers,  especially in relation to personal and family matters

There seems to be no critical capacity in the majority of policy-makers to understand that individuals must take responsibility for themselves; that’s life.

A couple of weeks ago in The Scotsman, columnist Robin McAlpine said that most politicians he knew had sought office to do good and that is undoubtedly true.

But that is precisely why we should have a healthy scepticism of those who proclaim they have the answer to difficult social issues.

Douglas Robin

Rannoch Road

Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire