Baby snatched at birth by officials was illegal, says judge!

Over zealous social services officials, who sometimes appear to have learnt their trade at the King Herod School for Baby Snatchers, have been brought up short by a judge. In this New Labour world of "we know best", the indignity and inhuman actions that seem to accompany officialdom know no bounds. The judge, Mr Justice Munby, at the High Court, said no baby could be removed "as the result of a decision taken by officials in some room". That's the point here. They put motherhood aside, they reckoned on a form-filling excercise, backed up by a clinical approach to the seizure.

The mother did indeed have mental problems and a troubled childhood. She's only 18. But do we really want people in our social services who would do Vinegar Joe Stalin proud, or do we want caring professionals who have the ability to think for themselves, have a bit of charity (yes, charity, that old fashioned word - it just means love with strength of mind!), and can use common sense.

Nottingham Social Services are determined to take the baby boy into "care". They are in a mood, which given a long leash, could frighten most people. The woman's solicitor said she faced the prospect of "an application by the local authority social services for an interim care order, which will be vigorously contested". The judge added that the situation was "most unfortunate". He said officials involved in the case "should have known better". Certainly they should.

We must be vigilant against these types and promote a standard of care that we would all be proud of. Many times social services do what they think the law requires, or what they think is right, without consideration for human emotion or pain. It's all too clinically brutal. Sometimes they forget about the real problems, such as Victoria Climbier.

Thank goodness we have judges who can stand up to the menaces lurking within the New Labour mentality. Whilst I very much want children to be protected from any form of harm or neglect, I believe there are also many injustices perpetrated on innocent families. These families may not be that articulate or sterotypically normal by certain standards, but an injustice is an injustice.

Groups such as Forced Adoption, Unity-Injustice, and PAROC (Parents Against Removal of Children) are fighting for justice. John Hemming MP is doing very good work in this regard. He also supports a referendum on the EU Treaty, but that's another matter!

So I would hope that we can campaign for better social services, more transparency (Gordon Brown's new buzz word), and employing firm but fair people who understand the needs and welfare of our children.

Posted in: child protection,John Hemming,Nottingham Social Services