Nanny State Imposing Classes, Fines on Parents for Child's School Behaviour

Absurdity reaches a new height in the UK. The Daily Telegraph reports on new legislation regarding your children's behaviour. Parents to be hit with penalties if children misbehave at school

They can apply to courts for a "parenting contract" requiring mothers and fathers of wayward pupils to take parenting classes - with fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to attend.

Under laws - first announced in legislation in 2007 - parents can also be hit with penalties of £50 if their children are found in a public place without justification in the first five days of an exclusion. The fine will rise to £100 if it is unpaid within 28 days.

Parents must also be interviewed by headteachers before their child is allowed back into school, outlining the standards expected of pupils.

In the past, it has been feared head teachers were reluctant to take such hard-line action for fear of souring relations with parents.

"Parenting class." My God. Can you imagine? Some board of education, leftist type teaching a class to you, against your will, on how to raise your kids? Oh boy!

Lucky they didn't have this in my day, in Canada. My parents would have had to declare bankruptcy, with all the fines I would have generated.

Big Brother Tracks Booze Purchases in the UK

There are closed circuit cameras all over the UK filming the streets, supposedly to help fight crime. Now the cameras are going to be used to monitor your purchases of a legal product:

Big Brother CCTV cameras are to be fitted inside shops and supermarkets on the orders of the state to keep track on anybody buying alcohol.

A law is being quietly pushed through Parliament giving councils the power to order licensed premises to fit the surveillance cameras. Pubs will also be covered.

The footage of people innocently buying a bottle of wine in a shop or a pint of beer in a bar must be stored for at least 60 days, and be handed over to the police on demand.

Critics say it will mean that citizens will now be tracked everywhere they go. The UK already has more than four million closed-circuit TV cameras covering the streets – the largest number in the world.

I wonder what's wrong with the British people that they let it get this bad? Some of it had to do with the IRA terror campaign, where people willing gave up some freedom to make it safer. Unfortunately, with the threat now gone, the cameras stay and are further expanded to monitor your law abiding life.

Just a note too, we all use plastic, and that too allows your life to be monitored. A friend of mine went to get a mortgage at her bank, and during the process they let her know disapprovingly of all the liquor store purchases that showed up on her debit card.