A CALL by the European Commission for the UK to justify fingerprinting of children in schools has been welcomed by Godfrey Bloom, the UKIP Euro MP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

Mr Bloom said: “Fingerprinting has always been abhorrent for anyone outside the criminal class, never mind children.”

The commission expressed “significant concerns” that the policy broke European Union privacy laws.

It has also raised concerns that parents are not allowed legal redress after a father was told he could not challenge the compulsory fingerprinting of his daughter without his permission.

Mr Bloom said: “Following massive pressure from UKIP, the Department for Education and Skills agreed in 2006 that no child could be digitally fingerprinted without parental consent but that seems to have been a worthless promise.”