Monday 17 November

Horrible day, strong winds, heavy rain, low temperatures. November at its worst.

I have resized the front picture, in order that it fully fits the screen when the blog loads. It has also been decreased in actual load size (by about 1/3), to suit those of you with slow connections.

Baby P, the 17-month old that was allegedly killed by his parents, continues to make headlines 15 months after his died. The focus remains on the social workers involved. Without making excuses for any mistakes made in this sad case, I have to say that when it comes to deciding whether a child can stay at home or not is an extremely hard call to make. I used to know someone who would take children away from their parents, under court order, and that would always happen in the presence of police. The most extreme case was a baby, taken from its mother the moment it was born. I need not remind you of the emotional repercussions of taking a child away from parents. However, if the health and safety of a child is at serious danger, then a decision will have to be made. Finally, I was not amused or impressed by the sight of two leading politicians shouting across the floor of the House of Commons last week over this, and they were rightly rebuked by Mr Speaker.