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I'm not sure, Mr Elsby, why you need to drag "left" and "right" (and whatever happened to "centre"?) into a fairly straightforward issue. Some commenters here say that organizations like Liberty, by challenging government policies and powers, do nothing but good to the individual. Others maintain that the innocent may be harmed, directly or indirectly, if such challenges are motivated by an ideological or over-zealous concern for the rights of the wrongdoer. There's no obvious reason why the antagonists in this debate should divide on party political lines or try to score points ad hominem. I can't help remarking, though, on your very gentle characterization of paedophilia as a "misguided social policy". Do you extend the same liberal charity to some of those now facing criminal sanctions for what they did 30 or 40 years ago? Is it necessarily worse to practise than to preach? After all, Savile & Co never, I think, said that paedophilia was right and good. Liberty did.