John Reid declared last week that his ‘starting point’ on convicted paedophiles was ‘that information [related to their whereabouts] should no longer remain the exclusive preserve of officialdom’. For daring to make this perfectly reasonable comment — and sending one of his ministers to America to investigate the procedures used there — the Home Secretary stands accused of bowing to the tabloid media, risking public hysteria and playing with populist fire. Before joining this chorus, it is worth reviewing the sequence of events that have led Mr Reid to this point.
In the past fortnight there has been a furore over the case of Craig Sweeney, the convicted paedophile who sexually assaulted a three-year-old girl but will be eligible for parole after only five years and 108 days. Mr Reid has also ordered that paedophiles be moved out of hostels close to schools, after the shocking disclosure that 60 child abusers were living in such facilities.
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