"The government attempts to tackle this, and yet we still complain."

It's the government attempting to tackle it that is the problem.

Leave teachers alone to teach. Leave policemen alone to catch criminals. Leave nurses alone to care for the sick.

Labour's meddling is a disaster.

Matt ODonnell, Guildford, UK

There have been a series of legal rulings down the years which impose the idea that "a child's natural place is with its mother" - adhered to even when the mother is unfit. If the father is granted access and the mother withholds it, punishing the offender would illegally affect the childs' welfare

Ron W, Weston-Super-Mare, UK

Climbie's parents farmed their little girl out to a great aunt who killed the child. Did she not know that great aunt? Did she check on her girl's welfare? Blaming Britain is like Desmond Tutu condemning Israel for human rights abuse whilst his own people are killing foreigners for racial reasons.

BwIlliamson, stockport,

The fundamental reason for this is political correctness. I am sympathetic to people living in difficult circumstances, but it often seems like it needs a major tragedy for anything to be done for children in certain categories. Where middle class children would be removed, many children are not .

Elizabeth , Portland, USA

we should have a one child policy for those parents who arent working, especially when we have have communities who try to dominate a country by population growth. how can any govenment pay for it. all the wards in birmingham womens hospital is dominated by people of one particular community.

rajan mathew, BIRMINGHAM, united kingdom

Christopher Chantrill Seatle. I agree with you about "what the nenighbours will say". The point is, the neighbours must have seen or noticed things were not right with Khyra because it was seen she was not attending school. The school is at fault initialy for not reporting this to the authorities.

Graham J, Bournemouth, UK

Thanks for talking sense again. I liked the comment about the absent father. It contrasted with the Today programme's interview with Victoria Climbie's mother earlier.

She was roundly critical of local social services' care of her daughter. No one asked her about her part in the tragedy.

Catherine Allinson, London, England

Why does no-one speak the obvious truth. This is a makework, jobsworth Labour Government who sees public services as the fiscal balancer. Many of the "new" public sector jobs are ill though out and not needed. These deadloss services and regulations should be scrapped.

Stephen, London,

Aric Sigman is right and the Government is dangerously barking. Children need to learn to be with and "read" people. This is the most important thing we ever learn. We see all around us the effects of not learning it. Kids need to be in close contact with one trusted adult not screens .

Neil, Oxted, UK

"I felt a range of emotions and concerns reading your article. You are doing an excellent service for the good of the people"

Have you ever thought you might need to get out more.
Good article Libby Purves, but why are we talking about doing the right thing instead of just doing it?

philip riley, billingham, uk

This misses the point that issuing instructions to educators can be done sitting 9-5 at a desk with a PC, while protecting children requires someone to do real work. If you employ bureaucrats, you get bureaucratic "action", not real world action.

A change of Government is unlikely to change that.

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA

Further comment seems superfluous. What a wonderful writer you are, Libby.

Mike Fowle, Felixstowe, UK

I don't want to control my neighbors at all!

Why don't these govt officials have the guts to start their own business and see if anyone likes their service?

Jo, Olney, UK

"They like to impose their will on soft, law-abiding families rather than intractable and uncivilised ones."

Applies across the board.

Great article.

Steve, London,

Let's not forget that the culture of the third world is alive & well in the UK!

ian cheese, london, uk

The EYFS developmment milestones sound fascinating. Milestone 1 finger paint; milestone 2 send SMS ; milestone 3 play playstation, etc. I didn't know there were 500 things you could do before you are 5 -- noone showed me -- but I guess if you pay someone enough money, theyll give you a list.

geoff, donostia, spain

The child was probably getting most of her nutrition from school, free school dinners (with a school dinner lady giving a little extra with every serving), free fruit (with teacher slipping her any extra in the afternoon) then she is withdrawn from school....

Diana, Derby,

How Libby can link the latest child death case to EYFS. Child protection is not the sole preserve of social workers, it a process triggered by anyone coming into contact, working with, responsible for children. The social worker is the towards the end of this process. She fails to understand EYFS.

Shaffiq Mahmood, Halifax, UK

AMEN !!

This interfering gov't. would better be described as "mummy" than "nanny".

But when it comes to early intevention in the families of those who truly need it, they're consumed with ideological fear.

They can't accept people are equal in humanity but not in ability and need.

Nathan, Inverness, UK

Please reassure me that the private sector are being taught correct ergonomics to avoid these kids developing

Repetitive
Strain
Injury

?

As usual, a target but no thought or true understanding. Nu Labour all over.

I am Sooooooooo looking forward to voting you out Gordon.

Tim, Bristol,

Ian, I agree with you, but I think we DO all realise they aren't needed. The question is, HOW do we get rid of them?

The people of this country are watched and ruled and nagged more than anywhere else in Europe - no wonder some of them go out and get unbelievably drunk at the week-ends.

Diane, Plymouth,

You can always be relied upon for sound common sense, Libby. It is a great pity that there isn't more of it around!

Jenny, Reading,

An excellent article that epitomises all that is wrong with state interference in our lives today. Fiddling while Rome burns. Equally would the "great mind" Gordon Brown be better put to solving teenage street violence rather than the plastic carrier bag "problem" - probably not - no new taxes there

Mac, Barcelona, Spain

Horrified to hear that by 36 months a child must “talk about ICT apparatus”. My daughter hits 3 in a fortnight and so far the only thing she says about IT apparatus is 'Mummy's computer, musn't touch.' Does that count, or am I a failure as a parent? ;-)

Katharine, york,

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU

Thus proving the point, damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Miriam, London,

In view of the statistics on knife crime and violence, why aren't we teaching infants to play together instead of driving a computer? What's next - "never mind the degree in medicine, we need farmers this year so start digging"? Chairman Mao and Pol Pot would have loved this lot!

KR, Stockport,

I am a social worker and it frustrates me that we always get the blame for things like this, what about other professionals that should be involved like GP's, teachers, nurseies, we only become involved when these people have made a referral or raised concerns.

phil cotton, birmingham,

Like boozing. Not paying proper attention to the welfare of children runs through UK society from top to bottom. A chap I know. Piles of money. Just found out that his 17 year old had not attended college properly 2 years ago. He was shocked and amazed.Thought it was the absent wifes job not his!!

Colin, Cambridge, UK

We have a small grandson, who lives nearby. We have tried and failed to imagine a scenario in which he could be starved to death at home without our knowledge. But if it happened, we would consider ourselves responsible, along with his mother, father and other close family, not a State agency.

anne, bournemouth,

Feel the need to comment and register some small response to this important articleWe have long moved from the world where people desired to be "respectable"or were required to be so by their peers and societyCan I repeat David C's condemnation of the vacuity of Labour and the liberal establishmet

robert everitt, wolverhampton,

Most of us are decent people of good will, creatively, persistently, imperfectly doing our best. The govt sees us as flawed cogs in the great bureaucratic machine who must be monitored, judged, taxed and punished. I think NuLab hates human beings.

Nancy, London,

"Everything not compulsory is forbidden."

We are groaning under the burden of a regime that is too cowardly to fight lions, so trumpets its ability to kick kittens to death.

"Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once."

maximus otter

maximus otter, Cambridge,

"The government attempts to tackle this, and yet we still complain.
Miriam, London",
Presumably because everything this Govt does FAILS AND COMPOUNDS THE ISSUE. Standards go down and Calamity Brown and colleagues fiddle while the system collapses.

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU.

Absolutely, Having taken early retirement from teaching I can confirm the pressures to generate data, the ceaseless and pointless initiatives, all designed to prove that the politicians are always right. Creativity and leadership gone, subsumed by micro management, the epitome of bad management.

Julian Smith, Rochdale, UK

Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

So many of us complain about supposed poor standards in education and how young people can't cope with basic tasks and lack literacy and numeracy.

The government attempts to tackle this, and yet we still complain.

Miriam, London,

This is not a political problem - politicians don't move an inch on childhood and educational matters without professional advice. We are seeing the outcome of a failed profession. Children and the country suffer from disastrously incompetent social work and educational advisors.

Clive S, Crowborough, UK

I felt a range of emotions and concerns reading your article. You are doing an excellent service for the good of the people

David Cartright, Birmingham,

Clarity in the in the Nu Labour ideological fog. But be clear, we need social services and the police force to deal with real neglect, cruelty and crime. We do not need to have these essential services subverted by deluded PC liberals, who are increasingly causing a real world focus to be lost.

Frank, Weymouth, UK

The Conservatives could do worse than repeal every single inept enactment that Labour has brought in and then give the job of drafting laws back to the Civil Service who understand it.
In fact they really could not do better!

Rosemary, Germany,

It's terrifying! In response to earlier comments, I don't think it has anything to do with what side of the political spectrum people appear to be on. Politics these days is all nonsense. Where have the 'real' politicans with 'real' views/policies gone?These days, everyone chases the same ideas.

Louise, St Albans, England

My mum taught me to read before I started school and she's Polish and was learning English herself. Years later she visited my school to help other children read whose British parents couldn't be bothered to. If only all parents did their bit then we wouldn't have to expect the govt to do it all.

Miriam, London,

EYFS is just another manifestation of this Government's misty eyed wishful thinking. In failing to recognise the crucial importance of innate and testable limitations to learning we fail to educate children according to their individual needs. Hence so many children are failed by their schooling

Andrew Martin, London,

This Govt believes that IT is the answer to everything, to the extent that it pours billions of pounds into vast IT systems which monitor every aspect of our lives from birth until death. Children are now just data subjects ,controlled by the State - their every move recorded. Bureaucracy gone mad.

Jenny Harvey, St Austell, Cornwall

A brilliant deconstruction and demolition of the destructive vacuity of NuLab and the wider liberal establishment.

David C, Brussels , Belgium

I agree with the criticisms of this girl's father, who, like Victoria Climbié's parents, opted out and then chose to blame social services when it all went wrong.
Not after getting his hands on some of our money is he, by any chance?

Dave, Sliugh,

Our nanny State controls what it can. Abandons or appeases what it can't. Too many people paid for targeting and analysing spreadsheets, not enough people out in the neighbourheads. We need to turn it round.

Nick, Bexleyheath, UK

A friend, who works as an assistant to a childminder, tells me that she has to teach the children about recycling and nuclear energy etc. The friend ( a former nurse) spends hours of her free time researching these subjects and she receives a pittance for her efforts.
A great article Libby.......

Liz Brown, Montmartin en Graignes,

One of the reasons why this government is getting such a kicking is that people are exasperated by the creeping enforcement culture that New Labour has imposed.
It saps the human spirit as more and more of our everyday life falls under the curse of officials and their legions of enforcers.

paul, London SW,

The problem is that if the armies of bureaucrats weren't busy trying to control every aspect of our lives then they'd have nothing to do. And if they had nothing to do then we'd realise they're not needed. And if we realised they weren't needed then they'd be fired and would have to get proper jobs.

Ian, London, UK

I thought this was more interesting as an opinion piece than a lot of the things I read "over here."

Louisa, Atlanta, USA

its all about control

terry sullivan, morden,

Quite so. If this carries on for another 2 years, the Tories will have the most massive bonfire of directives the world has ever seen.

They've already had one before, in the early 1980s. One scrapped rule was the need for all bicycles to have a bell. Guess who brought it back a couple of years ago?

J H Holloway, London,

Libby, I love your articles, but sometimes you make me weep.

When will we rid ourselves of this appalling government whose sole interest is to nanny the rich (oh and line their pocket whilst in power a la Cherie)? After all, why sully one's hands working for the poor?

They comprehend nothing.

Louise, Gerrards Cross, UK

I hope to read very soon that the Conservatives will promise to repeal many of the laws, advisories, rules and pettyfogging controls which this appalling control freak regime has implemented in the past decade.A wholesale slashing of the uber-bureaucracy should also be spelled out clearly.Why wait?

peter carlyle-gordge, winnipeg, canada

Let's get back to a society in which people are "afraid of what the neighbours will say."

It's a lot cheaper than a society supervised by helping professionals. And there's every indication that it gets the job done.

When you can shame people to do the right thing you don't have to force them.

Christoopher Chantrill, Seattle, USA