One of our supporters Hilary Minor posted a message on the campaign Facebook page this week to remind us all that Christmas is a time for thinking of others and that, for far too many children, it will not be a happy time. Certainly, Christmas would not have been a happy time for Daniel.

It’s interesting to see the current NSPCC campaign headline ‘Lost for words’. The copy reads ‘Imagine you’re the child… too young, too frightened, too vulnerable to call for help’. And yet the NSPCC opposes the introduction of a law to support and require those people who are paid to work with children to speak out on their behalf. Soon, I hope the NSPCC will become embarrassed by their indefensible position, as progressively more charities join our cause. Last week, a debate on Mandatory Reporting in Regulated Activities at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London indicated overwhelming support for new legislation; the NSPCC representative in attendance was able to offer ‘no comment’.

And so we will continue until we achieve our aim and make Daniel’s Law his legacy. Campaign numbers continue to rise, slowly but steadily, towards the critical 100,000 landmark and important supporters continue to back our petition every day. Tom Watson MP recently asked that we prepare this simple overview entitled ‘Sooner or later another child’s life will depend on it’ to help promote key campaign points and to highlight the critical importance of Mandatory Reporting in Regulated Activities to so many children, every single day – please use it to help spread the word. Regional press continue to offer support from Manchester  to Coventry – you could use the overview to approach your local paper, especially if there is a relevant local story on child abuse.

On a national level, we see the horrendous story of decades of sexual abuse at Caldicott prep school hit the front page of The Times this week – one of the victims of this abuse is a leading advocate of Mandatory Reporting in Regulated Activities. Tom Perry firmly believes that a law like Daniel’s Law would have saved him and many classmates from years of abuse, which was known to staff who did nothing to help victims in their care.

The next landmark for our campaign will certainly be the publication of the second Serious Case Review into Daniel’s death, of which Amy Weir, Chair of Coventry Safeguarding Children Board said this week:

“Following the Minister for Children and Families’ request for further work to be carried out into aspects of the independent Serious Case Review into the death of Daniel Pelka, a deeper analysis of the some questions posed has been carried out by Jane Wonnacott, an independent reviewer. The findings of this deeper analysis are being shared with the Department for Education… the report will be finalised and shared with members of the Safeguarding Board before publication in January.”

We will be waiting.