By Dave Woodhall.

On the one hand it seems a typical case of Nanny State interference. Child wants to work, and for the sake of 15 minutes he’s not allowed to. This is the line taken by most people who have reacted to the news of Bromsgrove paperboy Sam Green-Jeffries being told he can’t start work at 6.45am because child employment laws forbid children of his age from starting work until seven. It never did me any harm, the police should be catching real criminals, let people do what they want and the usual fallback, it’s PC gone mad.

However, look at this story a bit deeper and a couple of interesting facts appear.

The shop’s owner, Vocky Onions, when interviewed by Radio 5Live this morning, said she knew Sam was only 15, and that allowing him to work so early was illegal. But she carried on regardless. I wonder how many other laws this shopkeeper might be tempted to ignore if they didn’t suit her? Incidentally, when Sam won an award last October, Ms Onions spoke with pride of how he works from 7am every morning – presumably because she knew she’d be in trouble if his real hours were made public.

Meanwhile, Sam’s mother Samantha says he’s been doing the job for two years without any problems. He’s 15, which means he’s been working similar hours since he was 13. Imagine the furore if a 13 year old was involved in an accident one dark winter morning at 6.45am?  Climbing onto one of my particular hobby horses, I wonder how many of the people who think this is a terrible tale of interference also believe in zero tolerance, and think all crimes should be investigated, all criminals prosecuted to the full extent of the law?

In fact, I also wonder what the reaction from those who were supportive of this young lad’s right to be walking around deserted streets unaccompanied would have been had the story started from a different angle.  “Is this Britain’s cruellest woman? – Mother of eight makes schoolboy work illegally in darkness.”

Public opinion is, indeed, a very fickle beast.

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