Monthly Archives: December 2021

Crisis of confidence: can Britain’s police recover public trust? – UK Corrupt Police 27 Dec. 2021

VICTIMS OF THE STATE

Crisis of confidence:can Britain’s police recover public trust?

December 27, 2021 All police 1
In a square outside Barking town hall, east London, a sombre-faced Helen Ball, assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, on Friday walked nervously up to a bank of microphones and cameras. She had come to apologise, minutes after an inquest jury had delivered their verdict on what they called “fundamental failings” in the force’s investigation of four murders in 2014 and 2015 by Stephen Port, a serial killer.

The verdict, which Ball admitted was “devastating”, was that three of the murders could probably have been avoided if the first, of Anthony Walgate in June 2014, had been properly investigated. Members of the victims’ families glowered at her from the other side of the television cameras.

These cases are the latest in a series of high-profile scandals around police conduct that have brought the…

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Merry Christmas, from Researching Reform

A merry Christmas to Natasha and Researching Reform too, whose consistent hard work is appreciated and helps bring some comfort to me 😘🙏🕊️🦋 so thank you Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Researching Reform

Researching Reform wishes children and their parents a happy and hopeful holiday, in what has been an exceptionally difficult year for families going through the child protection system in Britain.

Lockdowns and failures to apply government policies enabling contact with children in care during the pandemic left many children and their parents deeply upset and anxious.

Revelations about the way survivors of domestic abuse and their children were treated in court also caused concern.

And as we looked through the data on Researching Reform’s website, we were able to see what really mattered to families the most in 2021.

By far the largest search term used was “who does the local authority owe a duty of care to?”, while our post outlining a worrying trend in which mothers who alleged abuse increasingly had their children removed from their care was one of the most read stories this year.

As always…

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Are family courts breaching children’s and parents’ human rights?

Researching Reform

A mother with lived experience of Britain’s child protection system is calling for a government inquiry into whether family court decisions are breaching children’s and parents’ right to family life.

A sharp increase in recent years in the number of children being removed from parents and placed in state care in England and Wales in the wake of government figures showing that maltreatment and abuse have plateaued for decades has caused concern among human rights experts.

The Human Rights Act, ratified by the UK, includes Article 8 which protects a person’s right to and respect for their private life and family life, and their ability to live theirlife privately without government interference.

Victoria Hudson, who campaigns to raise awareness about the way women and children who suffer domestic violence are treated in the family courts, asked the Joint Committee on Human Rights to launch an inquiry into current-day family court…

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Tesco’s “adoption celebration” card leaves parents fuming on Facebook

Researching Reform

A greeting card congratulating people for adopting children has sparked a furious backlash on Facebook.

The card, which is being sold in Tesco supermarkets in the UK, says: “Congratulations on your adoption. You don’t have to be born into a family to be a big part of one.”

The card was posted in a closed Facebook group with more than 1,500 members on Tuesday by one of the group’s admin staff after it was spotted in a Tesco’s branch.

The group, which supports parents who have lost their children to forced adoption in England and Wales, was flooded with comments shortly after the card was posted on their Facebook page.

One of the admin members for the group wrote: “Tesco selling adoption cards celebrating a FORCED Adoption – whatever next – well done TESCO 👏🏽🤷🏽🧸They don’t realise we are dealing with 3 parent suicides in the last 2 to 3…

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“The tragic deaths of Arthur and Star must lead to a more humane and supportive social care for families,” – Simon Haworth

Researching Reform

Simon Haworth, a lecturer in social work at Birmingham University and a core member of the Best Interests of the Child Review (BIC) has warned the government not to crack down on families in the wake of the deaths of Arthur and Star.

The piece, published in Community Care yesterday, follows Secretary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi’s calls to remove children from parents if there is “even an inkling of harm.”

As well as explaining why child removal on “inkling of harm” grounds is illegal, Simon also sets out several powerful arguments pushing for more humane social care and less investigations into families in Britain.

The piece is very much worth a read, and both Michele Simmons who is a core member of BIC, and Researching Reform were very generously invited by Simon to offer our feedback on the piece prior to publication.

You can read Simon’s article…

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