Why this law against 'emotional cruelty' could turn every parent into a suspect

When I was growing up, my father, a diplomat, was posted to China. In 1949, the year the Communists came to power, he and my mother were put under house arrest.

After she was finally released, my mother returned to England with a Chinese woman and her two young children, who came to live with us. The woman's husband was in jail, betrayed by something their little girl had unwittingly said to the authorities.

When that man was released seven years later, he was a human wreck — because he had been denounced by the word of his own child.

It seems incredible that this could happen in Britain, but the so-called 'Cinderella Law' proposed this week by the Government is driving us closer to that unthinkable situation.

This law would introduce the new offence of 'emotional cruelty to children'. Parents judged to be unloving, though not physically abusive, could face jail. The evidence could rest partly on the testimony of the children.

We have reached a tipping point. If this extraordinarily dangerous piece of legislation is passed, all parents in Britain effectively become suspects in the eyes of the authorities looking out for those deemed not to love their children enough.  (more...)

Why this law against 'emotional cruelty' could turn every parent into a suspect