Childhood betrayed

Mary Riddell in the Observer covers the disgraceful story of Patricia Hodge, Minister for Children (but not for much longer.) Riddell shows that the disaster of the Children's Ministry is about what can be expected, given the status of children's rights and welfare in the current political consciousness.
"The Children's Minister, a woman properly described as able, seems sometimes to be treated almost like a child herself. That is not only down to her cloddish self-preservation tactics, but to the status the Government confers on young people. Like Alice in Wonderland swallowing currant cakes and cordial, children grow large and small alternately."