Life & Society
More questions than answers
Published 05 February 2007
What is to be done about child abusers? Are a paedophile's drawings a useful outlet? If we invent more crimes there will certainly not be enough prison places
Sir Paul Beresford invited me to attend Prime Minister's Questions, which is a theatrical occasion rather like a first night. The public gallery and press benches were filled to capacity. Tony Blair arrived with a heavy file stuffed with tags and stickers.
Hard as the opposition tried, he turned their questions back. Does he role-play in advance? If so, it works. David Cameron asked his ration of six questions, all about the lack of prison space and whether Blair planned for the Home Office to split and, finally, whether Gordon approved. Mock groans, forced laughter, oohs, aahs - all very male, playground stuff.
Later I watched it again on BBC Parliament, where it seemed smaller and quieter. But although it lost drama, in close-up I could see Menzies Campbell's hands twisting with tension, and William Hague's hammy nods. Afterwards, Sir Paul gave a lunch for me and two senior policemen who talked of detecting and capturing child abusers. They described a new judicial dilemma - "virtual pornography".
Paedophiles are now drawing their fantasies and, however disgusting, they can do so legally because pictures and cartoons of vile acts against children are not a crime. What is to be done? Are these drawings useful as an outlet or a diagnostic tool, or is this a virtual assault? If we invent more crimes there will certainly not be enough prison places.
On a screen near you
I went to hospital with a beloved friend to discover the results of her mammogram and biopsy. There was good news, and bad. She has ductal carcinoma in situ, the most common form of breast cancer, which is very treatable. But the bad news is that, given the alternatives of high- and low-grade risk, hers is high. The surgeon talked about a range of treatments, but didn't mention "sentinel" lymph node removal, because King's College Hospital hasn't the funds to offer that. My friend, with composure, realised the omission, and decided to get a second opinion.
I left the consultation feeling confused. Doctors are detecting more breast cancer than ever; there would have been no possible way of detecting hers without the breast-screening programme. She had her mammogram in a Croydon car park. But does that mean we are curing the early, slow-growing cancers that would never kill us? Are we really bringing the death rate down?
Fame and fortune
Royal Hospital School in Ipswich is an impressive, co-educational boarding school with a maritime flavour. Many of the scholarships are for children or grandchildren of sailors. I was there to speak at the sixth-form dinner. Fame was the conversational theme. A gallant and courteous 17-year-old cross-questioned me incredulously about my life. Do I really cook family meals myself? And drive myself? I wish he could have seen me last week scrubbing the kitchen floor. Clearly they think I live in the pages of Hello! magazine.
When I started working in television, people asked how I could stand the lack of privacy in my job, no longer being able to pick my nose in a traffic jam. Now children say their only ambition is "to be famous". I was asked whether I resented Jade Goody having achieved fame without talent. I said: "No, I don't resent her, but I do worry for her."
Bullying exposed
I have been riveted by the Celebrity Big Brother series. The chemistry of bullying was filmed brilliantly as it happened: one belligerent mob leader (Jade) with her two acolytes (Jo and Danielle) turning on their scapegoat (Shilpa). It is a scenario acted out in schools all over the UK. Last year alone, there were 37,000 calls to ChildLine from children whose lives had been made a misery by such treatment, denied or ignored by their schools. Big Brother showed exactly how it can happen. One individual is targeted as "different" (different race, more articulate, better-looking). Others seek reassurance by forming a gang to abuse her.
The telling sound from the Big Brother shouting match was the sycophantic giggling of Jade's acolytes. If only we had cameras everywhere, so that all bullies could be confronted with their own behaviour. How satisfying to see them crumple and apologise, as Jade did.
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