Guest writer Sam Edwards : Britain's most disturbing scandal
Britain's most disturbing scandal By Sam Edwards Words are a powerful weapon, words have the power to evoke any form of emotion, and words have the power to inspire others. In a world that is rapidly changing day by day, whatever happened to the values of humanity? Whatever happened to the values of fairness and equality? Have we lost the will to protect our alienable rights? Have we lost the zest to fight for what we believe in? Have we lost the way? In short, yes but it comes down to one thing; ‘Fear’. What holds us back is not all the practical stuff, its fear; very reasonable fear of the unknown, of failing and of succeeding (because success changes everything). It’s really difficult to tackle that fear of the unknown on your own. On your own, you have to counter the doubts and fears with the same organ that creates them – your own mind. But… team up with enough positive, committed people and everything changes. You get to admit you’re scared, get reassurance, and get the practical advice and contacts you need then suddenly, all sorts of things start to look possible. It would be fatal for this once great nation to overlook the urgency to put a stop to this vile practise of children being stolen by the state and social services. It would be more fatal for this nation to overlook the urgency to stand together on the warm threshold which will ultimately lead us all in to the palace of justice. We cannot walk alone. But as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot and will not turn back. I know that one day this nation will rise up and live up to the true meaning of a ‘United Kingdom’ it once was. The manner in which, every week, dozens of families are wantonly ripped apart has become truly horrifying. And the only reason this does not itself make headline news is that our so-called ‘child protection’ system has become so ruthlessly hidden from view by the wall of secrecy built round it by our family courts. What is most shocking about our child-care system is the true extent to which, behind that wall of secrecy, every part of it has gone off the rails, and it would be fair to say that social workers have become far too prone to target not genuine problem families like those of Baby P or Victoria Climbie but instead, they are targeting respectable homes where children are being happily brought up by responsible parents. This vile practise of stealing people’s children to meet national adoption targets is the most destructive tool I have ever seen. Social workers give only vague reasons that are based on their own opinion rather than testable evidence and the term of ‘Risk of Emotional Abuse/Harm’ is being used like a power phrase. And in many cases I am aware of; social workers did not produce or need to produce any such evidence. It is hard to fathom why any court would accept a social workers personal opinion that a child might be at risk of ‘Emotional Harm’ rather than a professional one but, sadly, this is happening more and more. More often than not, parents will find themselves caught up in this tarantula web of secrecy which seems to be against them from the outset. Experts such as psychologists will be brought in to write a report which appears to confirm the case planned for the courts. The reports can contain false allegations, such as that a mother might suffer from a ‘borderline personality disorder’. All too often the parents aren’t allowed to challenge the reports in court — even though the ‘experts’, rather than practising in clinics and seeing patients, may earn all their living from writing such reports, and endorsing what the social workers want them to say. Once the reports are written, the Judges are presented with more false allegations made against the parents based on no more than the wildest hearsay. Such allegations elsewhere in our legal system would instantly be ruled as inadmissible. But because of the secrecy of the family courts system, the parents are not permitted to even question these claims and the media is denied the opportunity to present them for scrutiny. Until we all realise that the social care in the UK is in crisis and has been for a number of years, it will continue. The central problem as ever, is a lack of funding in core support services and the budget available is all too often ploughed into costly and unnecessary, bureaucracy. It is time for this wall of secrecy to be pulled down and reported across the world. As the whirlwinds of our revolt continue to shake the very foundations of the state and the social services, the bright day of justice will soon emerge and children will be reunited with their families where they belong. We must conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. We must rise to the heights of meeting physical force with soul force. 19th July 2014 is not an end, but a beginning. There will be neither rest nor tranquillity in the UK until the parents and their children are reunited. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of injustice to the solid rock of humanity. My profession is; ‘Father’. What is yours? As a Father, it is my duty to protect, nurture and teach them right from wrong. Our children have dreams of doing something with their lives which doesn’t include clearing up the mess our generation leaves behind. Can we fight this terrible system? Yes, but only when we wake millions of people to the reality of what is happening. Can we do this? Yes, by helping one another, strengthening one another and shouting out the truth as ONE VOICE FOR THE KIDS. We are not winning today, but today is the day we start to win. Final thought: “I can accept failure, but I cannot accept not trying”.
