The Philpotts - Hard cases make bad law

Judge Rolfe said this during a judgement in 1942, and it remains true. But sometimes it suits people to focus on the exceptional and the extreme, because it enables the broad generality to be ignored.

I read that George Osborne wants a debate on the Philpott case in the context of the welfare reforms. No doubt he will say that the Philpott case bolsters the argument for welfare reforms. But the Philpott case is so exceptional, so extreme that no sensible conclusions can be drawn from it for the rest of the welfare system or about the generality of welfare claimants. To do so would be like saying that all GPs are like Harold Shipman. There are a few bad apples in any barrel but you should not draw conclusions about the rest of the barrel from those few bad apples.

The welfare system does need reforming – but so does the economy – and the availability of work is much more of an issue than deliberate worklessness.

Now... on the Philpotts, I can make a personal moral judgement about the desirability of what went on. But I'm not sure it's the state's job to do that - to decide what living arrangements are appropriate. Of course it is the state's job to make sure the children are safe, but in this case it would seem that the children were attending school, were generally well-behaved, properly nourished and cliothed. There were no particular warning signs, and it was only the mad, mad, and sad plot that led to their deaths.

And coming back to the welfare system, whatever I might think about a family with a father, two mothers and 11 children, the fact is that the family exists. And the state has a duty to the children. There are only two options - provide benefits (or, I suppose, work, if it is available) - or take the children into care. Either way there will be a cost - but the important thing is that we do not penalise the children for the wrongs of their parents.

As I say, hard cases make bad law – the Philpotts are not representative, and they are at the far end of the spectrum. Let's not demonise the many many working and unemployed families who are in poverty for no fault of their own.

John Freeman CBE is a former director of children's services and is now a freelance consultant