WHY, I wonder, do headline writers insist on using the term “family campaigners” to describe the likes of Stephen “Birdshit” Green, and the equally odious Catholic Tory MP Ann Widdicombe, when a far more accurate description would be “ignorance merchants”?
The Telegraph did it again today when they turned to Green and Widdicome for predictable rants when they ran a story under the headline:
Plans to give scouts condoms criticised by family campaigners.
The report said that plans were afoot for scouts to be issued with condoms and taken on trips to sexual health clinics.
Scout leaders are being encouraged to be “realistic” about under-age sex and be prepared to offer “appropriate information” to teenagers in their troops.
Under new guidelines issued by their Scouts Association, they should feel able to hand out condoms:
If they believe the young person is very likely to begin or continue having intercourse with or without contraception.
Visits to sexual health clinics may help older scouts feel more confident seeking family planning and health advice, the advice suggests.
The normally stuffy scouts – who won’t allow atheists in their ranks – are, of course, to be congratulated. But “family values campaigners” accused the Scout Association of violating the principles of the 101-year-old movement and said the new guidelines would lead to more unwanted pregnancies.
Said Green, of Christian Voice :
They should be encouraging young people in their care to have respect for girls and live a life of chastity and fidelity. We need more self-respect and self-control because those are the values the Scouts were founded on.
Caught on the hop, it seems that Green couldn’t find the male equivalent of “slag” to describe randy boy scouts – and he is clearly unaware of the fact that the founder of the scouting movement was hardly principled individual. The atheist-hating Lord Baden-Powell, was, in fact, a devious, authoritarian imperialist and racist to boot.
Sex education, frothed Ann Widdicombe, was a matter for parents:
They do not need the scouts doing it as well.
Peter Duncan, the chief scout, said:
We must be realistic and accept that around a third of young people are sexually active before 16 and many more start relationships at 16 and 17.
Scouting have a duty to promote safe and responsible relationships and, as an organisation, we have the responsibility to provide sound advice about how to do that.Scouting touches members of every community, religious and social group in the country so adults in adults in Scouting have a duty to promote safe and responsible relationships and, as an organisation, we have the responsibility to provide sound advice about how to do that.
The Scout Assocation’s guidelines cover scouts from the ages of six to 18, but the more controversial elements are targeted at those about the age of 14.
The Government had backed the initiative.
Said Beverley Hughes, minister for young people:
This guidance underlines the consensus among young people, parents and professionals on the importance of providing accurate information and advice on sex and relationships.