Let Named Person go and set families free

THE fallout from the tumultuous collapse of the SNP’s Named Person scheme – declared illegal by the UK’s Supreme Court – continues apace.

Pilot schemes have been operating in several areas and now many parents in these regions are considering legal action because sensitive information on them and their families has been shared without their knowledge, let alone consent.

It is this data sharing, pivotal to the entire Named Person project, that contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights. It is horrific that so much time and effort has been wasted as the SNP dogmatically tried to ram through its deeply flawed legislation.

The plan was well-intentioned – but the SNP was deaf to genuine concerns that they risked undermining the basic building block of society, the family, by foisting Named Persons on every child in the land and arming them with chilling powers to interfere in their lives.

Yes, we need to reform the current system to ensure no child is left at the mercy of abusers – but the answer was never to presume every parent was incompetent and every child at risk.

There was no shortage of warnings about the wrong-headed nature of the plan but the SNP chose to ignore them all. Even now, Education Minister John Swinney insists the Named Person scheme goes ahead with tweaks.

As Emma Cowing argues on Page 21, trying to keep this zombie project staggering on would be a betrayal of genuinely at-risk children and families who have nothing to hide. Mr Swinney would be better concentrating on bringing forward realistic – and legal – plans to safeguard Scotland’s vulnerable children.

And as for the fresh legal bills taxpayers now face over the Named Person fiasco, perhaps the SNP ought to loosen the strings of its own capacious coffers to compensate families caught up in an egregious example of political incompetence.