September 29, 2009 8:39AM # Nanny State Doesn’t Like Competition — the English Version By [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) --- SHARE A [previous post](https://www.cato.org/2009/09/26/nanny-state-doesnt-like-competition/) by David Boaz poked fun at bureaucrats in Michigan for threatening a woman for the ostensible crime of keeping an eye on her neighbors’ kids without a government permit. English bureaucrats are equally clueless, badgering two women who take turns caring for each other’s kids. The common theme, of course, is that bureaucrats lack common sense — but the real lesson is that this is the inevitable consequence of government intervention (especially when politicians say they are “doing it for the children). The BBC [reports](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8277378.stm): > England’s Children’s Minister wants a review of the case of two police officers told they were breaking the law, caring for each other’s children. > > > Ofsted said the arrangement contravened the Childcare Act because it lasted for longer than two hours a day, and constituted receiving “a reward”. > > > It said the women would have to be registered as childminders. > > > …Ms Shepherd, who serves with Thames Valley Police, recalled: “A lady came to the front door and she identified herself as being from Ofsted. She said a complaint had been made that I was illegally childminding. > > > “I was just shocked — I thought they were a bit confused about the arrangement between us. So I invited her in and told her situation — the arrangement between Lucy and I — and I was shocked when she told me I was breaking the law.” > > > …Minister for Children, Schools and Families Vernon Coaker insisted the Childcare Act 2006 was in place “to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children”. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).