John Humphries giving the minister grief this morning in ‘Today’ over the new vetting and barring scheme – having to get people vetted who just agree to take local kids in the car on behalf of a football club twice a month.

Of course, if John and his friends in the press are going to say ’something must be done’ every time there’s some child care scandal (although not bothering so much when some older person gets abused), this is the result, because as Bob Reitemeyer (I hope that’s right) from the Children’s Society said, the only way we know to do this is to improve overall communication, which means drawing more people into the net.

And it doesn’t answer the point that most children are abused by friend and family, not someone driving their minibus in a fairly public situation.

It’s exactly the same with older people: in the St Christopher’s audits of adult safeguarding referrals, much of it was neglect and pressure as a carer by family members. The answer to that is good support for family carers.

From my series of pics of the new St C’s: another thing you can make an appointment for from the new anniversary centre is the gym, set up to look like a high street gym; it also provides for physio. And it’s because the fitter you are, the better your quality of life, even if you are suffering from an advanced disease.