Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary

Have been receiving letters from worried teachers about Big Brother! No - not the one on the television - but the fact that from September 2008, each child living in the UK will be issued with a unique number at birth which will be required to access services (schools, health visitors, housing, benefits etc).

If a family moves, the number remains “attached” to the child, so - the plan goes - children can no longer slip through the net, as in the case of Victoria Climbie.

A laudable intention, and whilst understanding the need to protect children and for agencies to have a robust mechanism whereby they can work together - not sure this isn't baby identity cards. Anyway - needless to say - am tabling a raft of questions about this new database identifier to follow up on the letters I've been sent.