Guest vocals
Joan McFadden

Neil McKeganey must beusedtocontroversy,butwithhis proposalthatCCTV should be used in the homesofdrinkand drug-addictedparents,hecansurelyexpectedtobepilloried.Asprofessorofdrugmisuse research at Glasgow University, he got much the same reaction in 2004 bysuggestingthatfemaledrugaddictsshouldbepaidtotake long-term contraception.

His concerns apparently arise from a recent Scottish Executive report revealing that at least 160,000 children in Scotlandlivewithdrinkordrug addicted parents. Adam Ingram, minister for children, says all the agencies involved in providing support to these families are "obviously working effectively". This implies the problem is decreasing,but Ingram provides no statistics to support this.

Therealityisthatthousandsof children are living in deprivation with people who might love them but cannot care for them.There is no national perspective on support programmes, while the state's record in looking afterchildrenincareis appalling and in need of an overhaul.

One of the biggest problems is the constant stream of babies being born into the same hopeless situation. The first focus of parenting should be the children. But anyone with an addiction has that focus elsewhere, and so they start to give up their parental rights.

Nobody is saying that putting CCTV in homes is anything other than an invasionofprivacy,butthismeans nothing in the face of children being abused or murdered.

The situation is worsening. Yet the outcryoverMcKeganey'sproposals might inspire a discussion that will be a catalystforpositivechange.Paying female drug addicts to take contraception should be a first step, along with the introduction of legal sanctions to protectbabiesborntoaddicts.This means a time-limited opportunity to become drug-free, followed by adoption where that aim has not been achieved.

Bland assurances by politicians that theagenciesare"obviouslyworking effectively" imply that these vulnerable childrenwarrantlittleattention. McKeganey might well have an uncomfortable few days ahead of him, but he at least is well aware that'snothing compared to the tragic realities for the children he's trying to protect.