Minimal training, maximum meddling

THE SNP’s legion of state snoopers will have unprecedented rights to meddle in family life.

But, as we reveal today, some of them will have had less than three hours of training before they begin work as socalled Named Persons.

By contrast, it takes a minimum of five years to train social workers specialising in child protection, which is also supposed to be the core function of the state guardians.

The disclosure is yet another blow for the disaster-prone scheme which, however well-intentioned, has been widely condemned – not least by many of the childcare professionals tasked with its implementation.

A recent poll even showed that more than half of those who voted SNP in the Scottish parliament election in May have concerns about the legislation. The Named Persons will be able to quiz parents on family finances and even pull them in for questioning if a pupil underperforms in exams.

Officials will be free to share private information which is given in confidence with social workers and police – without the consent of mothers and fathers.

Yet Nationalist politicians have repeatedly smeared parents who have legitimate fears over the policy, even claiming that some of its opponents could be child molesters. On Thursday next week, the Supreme Court in London will deliver a longawaited judgment on the legality of the scheme, which is due to be implemented across Scotland at the end of August.

Parents across Scotland can only hope that the UK’s most powerful court seizes the opportunity to rid us of one of the most intrusive laws ever passed by a democratic legislature.