Ellee Seymour

Julian Sturdy is gathering support to plug the legal loophole regarding strangers who abduct children, or attempt to, and are currently not placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register

He raised this issue today with Shadow Children’s Minister Tim Loughton at the Conservative Party Conference, with Tim admitting he was not aware of the situation. The loophole means these people are still able to work with children and could pose a considerable threat. Tim has said he will raise this with David Davis and other Conservatives.

Julian is fully supporting the campaign organised by his local paper. The conference was an excellent opportunity for him to get the word across about it.

I’m sure he will continue to add pressure on the Government to act over this, our children rely on us to do all we can to protect them.

I find it hard to believe that Michael Eke is the only conman/woman to be bestowed an honour by the Queen. His may have been the first case to be discovered, but how thoroughly are these applications checked?

If it hadn’t been for his greed and his incredible audacity, the chances are he would have got away with it. He’s not the first Walter Mitty character to live a deluded life, and he won’t be the last seeking self-reward and public recognition.

I know something about the honours system as I successfully recommended my friend the children’s writer Jean Adamson for one, she was, to my delight, later awarded an MBE.

Jean (right in pic) and her late husband Gareth created the hugely successful children’s books based around Topsy and Tim, she has written up to 150 titles in 40 years and her books are among the most borrowed titles in UK libraries, selling more than 25 million worldwide in various languages, including Japanese.

She has had two new titles published by Penguin about chicken pox and, most timely, lunch boxes. They are great for kids, they steer kids through difficulties and problems, as well as embracing modern, multi-cultural family life.

I had to find two people to support my application and the vicar’s wife and school head teacher duly obliged.

I suspect at the most, a phone call is made by the Cabinet Office when checking out their authenticity, which means it is largely done on trust. I don’t remember receiving a call myself, but it was a long time ago.

Their office certainly would not have the manpower to personally visit and check out those making the application, perhaps it is something they should ask the local county sheriff’s office to do. There needs to be some tightening up to the vetting system, especially as the honours system is currently in such disrepute.