Get Ready To Revolt

From this autumn onwards, children's books will be sold with an age rating that indicates their suitability for readers aged 5+, 7+, 9+, 11+ and 13+. The initiative has the backing of the Publishers' Association, but more than 750 authors have already signed a petition set up by Philip Pullman. I'm with the authors. The idea is seriously flawed and the more I think about it the more inarticulate with anger I become. Yet again, someone is attempting to homogenise the human race, as if we develop our skills, intellect and personal taste at the same pace. We know this is rubbish, so why pretend otherwise?

I was a voracious reader as a child, the sort that continued reading after lights out with a torch under the bedclothes. All my pocket money was spent on paperbacks, and, by midweek, when I had exhausted the bought books and the pile I borrowed from the library, I would turn my attention to my parents' bookshelf to keep me going until the weekend. It was thus I discovered Dickens - but also Ian Fleming and Laurie Lee.

But, supposing I had been a slow reader, or just somebody who didn't discover a love of fiction until I was a little older. Imagine missing out on Stig of the Dump, or The Secret Garden, or even Jill Has Two Ponies (you may laugh, but this was the first book I came across that addressed the reader in a conversational tone), just because they were lumped in the 7+ band, and I, at 11, couldn't bear to be seen reading something for kids. Children are more aware of their peers than any other group, and this latest attempt to box them in will do more harm than good.

Of course, the initiative fits in perfectly with the bigger picture of today's society, where the daily increase of rules and regulations smothers our every move. We are all too aware of the insane grip of Health and Safety, where a pensioner at the top of a steep hill discovers that his mail can no longer be delivered because the slope could pose a threat to the post man, or bunting cannot be strewn across a village street because it may fall down and strangle a passer-by. Or the unilateralism of the EEC - does anyone remember when there was a move to regularise the strain of yogurt culture used throughout Europe? They wanted to choose the type favoured by the French - a rather thin, sour flavour - even though this was not popular with other countries, who preferred a softer, creamier variety. I rest my case.

We elect our government to run the country but we seem to have no say in appointing those who create the petty rules and regulations that are taking over our lives. I am becoming increasingly in favour of a body that promotes civil disobedience. Perhaps I should start it.