SINCE the weekend euphoria over John Reid's pronouncements on making information on paedophiles available to parents, the reins have been pulled in.

The Home Secretary's decision to send a junior minister to America to learn lessons from "Megan's Law" was hailed as a major breakthrough by the News of the World, which has led a campaign for a similar system to be introduced in this country.

We expressed our reservations on Monday, arguing that great care needed to be taken because of the dangers of vigilante attacks and of paedophiles being driven underground where they would be more dangerous.

And we are heartened by assurances - made in the wake of concerns expressed by police chiefs - that the Government is not pandering to a tabloid agenda and policymaking on the hoof.

"This is not something we are rushing into," said a spokesman for the Prime Minister, and that is a relief because it is far from straightforward.

In the meantime, it is right that a considered debate takes place in the media over the best way to find a balance between the rights of parents and the enforcement of the law.

But the BBC went too far yesterday when a spoof news item was broadcast during The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2, in which it was reported that Soham murderer Ian Huntley had been killed in prison.

The murder of two schoolgirls is not an appropriate subject for a spoof - even if it is part of an attempt to make a valid point in an important debate.