Let the state 'manage' your 12 year old for you

I think that Mr Blair must be on the verge of succumbing to nervous exhaustion, having read this Guardian article.

Writing in the Sun as the Government prepares to publish proposals to force more parents to attend parenting classes, Mr Blair said "an overwhelming majority" of people would welcome outside assistance.

 
"This should be no surprise given the huge popularity of all those television programmes in which experts help parents with their problem kids.

 
"So I don't believe any Government, particularly one determined to tackle anti-social behaviour, can ignore parents' cry for help," he insisted.

 
Mr Blair said he wanted experts appointed in 77 areas, adding: "The nanny state argument applied to this is just rubbish. No-one's talking about interfering in a normal family life.

 
"But life isn't normal if you've got 12-year-olds out every night drinking and creating a nuisance on the street with their parents either not knowing or not caring.

 
"In these cases, a bit of nannying with sticks and carrots is what the local community needs."

"No one is talking about interfering in a normal family life".  As the Soviet experience in state-managed family life ought to have demonstrated, governments don't really succeed at such things: but the British seem not to notice any similarities, or don't care.