Chapter Twenty One - The nanny state strikes again.

·         The news that a mother has been cautioned by police for leaving her 14 year-old son to look after his baby brother for half and hour has shocked me.

During the 30 minutes the mother was away, there was no incident and the baby was never in any danger during that time. Neither is there a law to state how old a child needs to be in order to be left home alone. And yet this anonymous parent has been officially cautioned by over-zealous police, who were probably bored on a routine patrol.

In my opinion it should be up to the parent to decide if the teenager is old enough and mature enough to look after his sibling, not the authorities. The mother probably only nipped to the shops, only to come home with more than she bargained for.

It is a pretty sad state of affairs if sad bureaucratic officials say a mature minded young adult cannot be left in charge of the house for a small amount of time. Children cannot be wrapped in cotton wool for all of their lives. They must be given freedom and responsibility so they can grow up maturely.

Chapter Twenty - Sacking for sacked sake!

Another week, another TV personality facing the sack.

For the benefit of those who have a life, Sunday’s Dancing on Ice turned ugly as the show’s “evil” judge Jason Gardiner was forced to apologise after doing his job.

Jason nearly came to blows with the show’s dancing coach Karen Barber after he made some harsh comments on war-hero Johnson Beharry’s routine with partner, Jodeyne Higgins. Karen took offence to Jason’s opinion and squared up to him live on air, like a pissed up Geordie lass at 2am desperate for a fight.

Now producers are under pressure to remove the show’s most entertaining and knowledgeable judge after over 2,000 complains were made to Ofcom. If Ofcom had any sense they’d throw all 2,000 complains into the trash, along with Emma Bunton’s piss poor solo records.

I’m not a fan of the show by any means, but from what I’ve seen Jason has done nothing wrong. As far as I’m concerned he is worthy to judge on ice dancing and says it as it is, regardless of if you’re a war-hero or the spoilt offspring from a famous television marriage.

The fact that Beharry is a recipient of the Victorian Cross shouldn’t exclude him from any criticism based on his performances on the show. It is after all a competition, something that fans of all talent shows seem to be forgetting when the judges get their say.

Jason Gardiner, Simon Cowell and Craig Revel Horwood are all perceived as the harsh critic on their respective shows. Each week they are subject to enormous jeers after a competitor has performed badly, by the soft-minded audiences who think competitiveness means just taking part. Its not!

If you take part in a competition you have to accept criticism when you perform badly. Many people can’t grasp that idea. This mind set stems from Labour’s emphasis on children simply taking part in school sports. Sports days at schools don’t have any winners or losers which is wrong. Life is a competition whether you’re applying for a job, or chasing after that special someone. If you fail to teach competitiveness then that child won’t become strong when they enter the real world.

Jason Gardiner was put on a judging panel to judge ice dancing. Following those orders could cost him his job if the motherly nature of ITV’s viewers becomes too much for the channel’s spineless producers.