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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Zoe Williams

Of course Kirstie Allsopp is happy for her 15-year-old to go Interrailing on his own. It’s ‘character-building’!

Kirstie Allsopp, head and shoulders shot of her in a colourful dress.
‘Nothing about allowing my child to travel around Europe is neglectful’ … Kirstie Allsopp. Photograph: Jim Selby/Alamy

Following a post on social media about letting her 15-year-old son go on an Interrailing trip, Kirstie Allsopp should definitely be investigated by somebody; if there were a tribunal court for crimes of deliberate, nay, provocative smugness, that would be ideal. Instead, social services have got involved. They haven’t told Allsopp who made the referral, only that there were safeguarding issues, related to having a 15-year-old and not always being crystal clear on his location, location, location.

“I just felt sick,” Allsopp told the Mail on Sunday, “absolutely sick. Then I was cross. I was very, very cross. It was just so extraordinary. I was in a parallel universe where they were actually taking this seriously. I have broken no law, and nothing about allowing my child to travel around Europe is neglectful.”

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