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The second part in my ongoing analysis of the governments initiative to rush anti home education legislation through parliament. For part one click here.
Some people may respond to home educators complaining about the proposed legislation with a question: “What’s wrong with it?”. That’s an understandable position, but I think it’s the wrong approach. When government proposes new legislation we should in fact be asking “What’s right with it?”. Government should not be about new legislation for the sake of it. New legislation should only be imposed when there is a demonstrable need for it, where the need can be shown to be significant and legislation must be proportionate to that need. Legislation on that basis is part of maintaining a free and democratic society. Legislation not based on these principles is not compatible with freedom, simply existing for the ruling class to exert further control on citizens.
The new legislation on home education being proposed does not meet these criteria. The need for it is poorly identified, the evidence presented is flaky at best, non-existent in the main, made up or misrepresented at worst. It is not clear what the aims of the new legislation are. It has not been adequately demonstrated that the legislation will lead to any benefit. Until this has been established we should not even be getting as far as a consultation. That is why many home educators are not prepared to talk about which bits might be acceptable and which may not. Until the need to change the current situation is identified clearly how can an appropriate mechanism for doing that be established? Show us why legislation needs to change, with a sensible evidence base that you are prepared to disclose, then we’ll talk.
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