Cruelty to the NSPCC
From Mary Marsh Sir: There is too much strident waffle in your leading article 'Boycott the NSPCC' (10 July) to answer every charge you make against the NSPCC. Let's stick to some fundamental ones.
The NSPCC has always been a campaigning organisation ever since it began more than 120 years ago and, perhaps to the disbelief of your cosy, armchair editorialist, the hard, coalface business of stopping the abuse of children was as political then as it is now. Campaigning for children is what we do and have always done. It's in our Royal Charter. Our founder, the Revd Benjamin Waugh, would recognise your leading article as the same sort of head-inthe-sand nonsense he faced in his day from quarters who had no vision to help elevate the status and condition of children. Ending cruelty to children requires people of action, not spectators.
As regards the physical-punishment debate, the NSPCC is one of hundreds of organisations supported by huge numbers of individuals throughout the country who want for children the same protection from assault that adults enjoy. Your accusation that the NSPCC is a single-issue organisation is as absurd as your apparent assumption that the physical-punishment debate is a matter only for a few zealots. This is a major public issue that has deep and growing support.
You talk, too, of 'we' as if you somehow claim to represent NSPCC supporters. What an insult to the many thousands of people who not only do support us and our work for children but understand the issues involved. Of course not every one of them will agree with every aspect of our policy on physical punishment, as they might not do on any other child-protection-related issue (yes, they know we have more than one), but they are totally committed to our cause and would be horrified by your leading article. Mary Marsh
Director and chief executive, NSPCC London EC2
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