Those many well meaning people who wrote voracious comments on this a few months ago do need to look at the report on the death of Khyra Ishaq. the Report stated “The mother’s sound knowledge of home education legislation and a hostile and aggressive approach influenced and affected professional actions, preventing a full understanding of conditions within the home and seemed to render professionals impotent, thereby directing the focus away from the welfare of the children”.

It would be just too easy to blame the social workers for this. There is a problem if parents know they can take their children out of school without further intervention by anyone. The more home education spreads the greater the danger. If we are to have a successful home education sector then there does need to be regulation. I remember saying at the time of the previous debate that any future government was likely to return to this. The case of Khyra Ishaq makes my point with cruel clarity.

I also worry about some of the comments on my Iran post. What is happening in Iran is part of the challenge of the 21^st century. It is about democracies with the rule of law and more authoritarian societies. There is a danger in a number of western countries where a significant minority of people seem to equate countries which have the rule of law and democratic processes with the authoritarian regimes. Anyone who thinks there is equivalence should try living in a dictatorship – it is a very sobering experience. That is why we should be clear about giving moral support to the opposition in Iran.