Officialdom cannot hammer straight the crooked timber of mankind

Excellent article in todays Guardian by Simon Jenkins on the Baby P case. He argues that it is the excess of guidelines, rather than the failure to adhere to them, that leads to the failure to take the necessary action in these cases. A useful contribution to understanding the apparent contradiction whereby social services are encouraged to interfere in families more but miss what is under their noses.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/14/baby-p-haringey-laming-report