His Dark Materials author Phillip Pullman has come out against new laws announced in the United Kingdom that would see anyone having regular contact with children to be certified by a government authority.

More information about the initiative — dubbed the “Vetting and Barring Scheme” can be found on the site of the UK Government’s Independent Safeguarding Authority.

Pullman appears to have made his views clear in a few different publications. He tells the Open University’s Platform site:

“It’s ridiculous that we have to pay £64 to get a moral certificate from the Government … The default is that you shouldn’t trust people. But all of us — politicians, writers, artists – should work towards a society where the default is that a person can be trusted; that someone’s word of honour means something. But this simply isn’t happening. Society is just moving in the opposite direction.”

Further Pullman comments can be found in a BBC article on the subject.

(via SFWA)