Kirstie Allsopp: Fury Over Social Services Probe Into Son's Interrail Trip

TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has expressed outrage after being investigated by social services for allowing her 15-year-old son to embark on a solo Interrail trip across Europe. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) opened a file on her youngest son, Oscar, after receiving a complaint alleging child protection concerns.

The social worker who contacted Allsopp demanded to know what "safeguards" she had put in place for Oscar's three-week journey, which he undertook with a 16-year-old friend. Allsopp was informed that the file would remain open "in case there was another referral and we needed to come to your house and look into this further".

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, Allsopp branded the council's actions "Orwellian" and "absolutely outrageous". She maintained that she had broken no laws and that allowing her son to travel was not neglectful.

The 52-year-old TV personality believes she was targeted by a "malicious" complaint from someone falsely alleging neglect. She expressed her frustration with the council's lack of understanding and the resources being allocated to such a case.

"I just felt sick – absolutely sick," she said. "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."

The case has sparked accusations of a "nanny state" and raised concerns about councils being misled into opening investigations based on "vexatious" complaints.

Sir Alec Shelbrooke, a Conservative MP and former minister, commented: "This is the nanny state gone mad. Any parent thinking of allowing their teenagers to travel will be terrified by this Orwellian development. Surely, these council officials must have better things to do than intimidate a mother who knows best how she can trust her son?"

Dame Karen Bradley, a Conservative MP and mother of two young adults, echoed this sentiment: "It seems like the worst kind of box-ticking and a waste of effort and time by council officials who should be focused on children who are at genuine risk. Kirstie knows her son and what he is capable of and took the same decision that many other parents would take for a child who wants to celebrate the end of his exams."

The controversy began after Allsopp expressed her pride in Oscar on social media following his successful Interrail journey. She had previously argued on the BBC's Today programme that advances in mobile phone technology and healthcare made travel safer than in previous generations.

However, the council's intervention came as a shock to Allsopp. She was contacted by a social worker who inquired about the safeguards put in place for Oscar's trip, despite her son being accompanied by a friend and having access to modern communication tools.

The council has defended its actions, stating that it is "standard practice" to retain records until a child's 25th birthday. However, residents can request that these records be removed.

An RBKC spokesperson commented: "Safeguarding children is an absolute priority. We take any referral we receive very seriously and we have a statutory responsibility for children under 18 years of age."

The case raises important questions about the role of social services in modern society and the need for a nuanced approach to handling child protection concerns. While safeguarding children is essential, the focus should be on cases that present a genuine risk of harm, not on "vexatious" complaints that distract from real issues. Allsopp's experience highlights the need for greater scrutiny of such referrals and a more nuanced understanding of what constitutes "neglect" in today's world.