Julian Brazier is Conservative MP for Canterbury and a shadow transport minister.
Last year, ConservativeHome carried an article of mine attacking a court decision which penalised a family for an accident at a children's party involving a bouncy castle. This week we have heard that Bear Grylls, the explorer and survivalist, has taken over as Chief Scout. How are these two matters related?
Grylls' introductory speech says it all. He pointed out that some 30,000 youngsters would like to become Scouts but cannot join because of the shortage of instructors. The Girl Guides have an even longer waiting list. Why? Surveys in 2003 by the Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR) and 2006 by the Scouts both came to the same conclusion: the principal barrier to people volunteering in the sport and adventure training field is the blame culture and the threat of being sued.
As co-chairman of the All-party Group for Adventure and Recreation in Society (ARISc), I am supporting the Campaign for Adventure in its battle to roll back the compensation culture and excessive and unreasonable health and safety legislation. The problem stems not through any act of Parliament but through a series of bad decisions by the courts between the early 1990s and in the middle of the current decade.
Let us look at one of a dozen examples which have come my way: a father accompanied his two sons on a Scout expedition to visit the popular show cave at Gaping Ghyll. The party decided to eat their picnic lunch before undertaking the guided tour and walked a short distance up a footpath to some open land. One of the Scouts noticed a cave opening across a stream and asked the Scout Leader for permission to explore it. The Leader refused permission, pointing out that caves could be dangerous. The Scout then moved away to his father and repeated the request. His father, who had heard the leader's ruling, gave permission, provided his son with a cigarette lighter for illumination and accompanied him into the cave. A short distance inside, the Scout slipped and fell 300 feet down a 'chimney' to his death.
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