Has the SNP failed to learn from its ‘snoopers’ charter’ debacle?

In the run-up to the French vote on the European Constitution in 2005, Jean-Claude Juncker said ‘If it’s a Yes, we will say ‘on we go’, and if it’s a No we will say ‘we continue’’. Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP government are clearly of a similar mind. Not perturbed by the backlash that greeted the party’s most notorious rejected policy, the Named Person Scheme, the SNP appears to be attempting its luck again, albeit in a subtly disguised and rebadged form.

The Named Person Scheme was originally introduced as part of the Children and Young People Act (2014). It proposed that a ‘named person’ would be appointed for every child in Scotland up to the age of 18. The chosen individual, usually a GP, though it could theoretically have been anyone, would have been available to children or parents in need of information, advice or support. The named person would also be a point of contact if social services had particular concerns.