The Government was today (1.9.06) forced to back down over the scandal of fingerprinting school children without their parents being told.
The UK Independence Party today claimed that its campaign against this intrusion on our civil liberties had forced the Government to retreat.
From now on, schools will not be allowed to carry out fingerprinting of pupils unless their parents give full permission.
The Department for Education and Skills had forged ahead with the £240 million scheme without even checking whether they were in breach of data protection or the Human Rights Act.
David Clouter of ‘Leave them Kids Alone’ today praised UKIP for exposing this outrage.
He said: “”Without the hard work of UKIP across the country we would never have had this result so soon. Parents can breathe a sigh of relief that Big Brother has been kicked out of the classroom.”
Today, the DfES admitted that schools should have been told that parental consent should have been gained before children were fingerprinted.
The Children’s Index was due to be introduced in 2010 and claimed it would help identify children at risk of abuse.
The UKIP campaign was led by UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom who said “We have reached a new low when we are fingerprinting children at schools without parental consent.”
As part of the campaign, UKIP MEPs contacted LEAs across the UK to discover whether parental consent was being given.
Mr Bloom said: “We were appalled at what we found. This is a very nasty piece of state interference into our civil liberties. This Government wants us to live in a society where we are monitored from cradle to grave.”
Notes:
Click on these links to read Godfrey Bloom MEP in Yorkshire Today and John Whittaker MEP on www.icliverpool.co.uk
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1735844