A BIT RICH...

So, Children`s Secretary Ed Balls (pictured) has criticised England's Children's Commissioner for "ill advised" comments about the killers of Jamie Bulger. The commissioner, one Dr. Maggie Atkinson, said children under the age of 12 were too young to understand their actions. The comments led Jamie`s mother Denise Fergus to call for her sacking because of the "twisted and insensitive" views. In a radio interview, Dr Atkinson reportedly apologised for the "hurt" caused to Mrs. Fergus, without having actually posted the letter of apology. It seems Denise Fergus did not receive the short handwritten letter of apology until a full 24-hours after the interview was aired.

Now, quite apart from the obvious issues involved here, there are a couple of other things that really don`t seem quite right. For example, Dr. Atkinson has no children of her own which I would have thought would be an obvious disadvanatage to be the £120,000 a year Childrens Commissioner. Moreover, The Children, Schools and Families Select Committee of the House of Commons were not convinced about Dr. Atkinson`s appointment when it was made last year and they asked for it to be reconsidered. However, true to form, Ed Balls overruled the Committee and went ahead and confirmed the appointment anyway. So it`s a bit rich - but entirely predictable - for Balls to be criticising his chosen candidate as soon as she makes some comments which are clearly politically sensitive, if not politically damaging.

Seems to me that the only person to come out of this sorry episode with dignity intact is Jamie Bulger`s Mum, with the politicians and the so-called professionals left once more to flail around defending their own interests rather than those they have been appointed to serve. Don`t know why, but Balls always reminds me of a rabbit caught in the headlights.