To Newham , where the council seem to have gone a bit barking. We’re not talking easterly migration here, but rather barmy policy making.
The batty burghers have decided to disallow the adoption of a wee lassie (by the couple who have already adopted her big brother) on account of the fact that they, the council, disapprove of smacking, and the wannabe parents had the temerity to be honest and defend the practice. Irrespective of the fact that the law of the land has upheld the right of a parent to smack (and surely they can't be saying that adoptive parents have less rights than natural parents?). And that the majority of child welfare groups support measured corporal punishment. And that the High Court had already overturned the council’s original ruling:
Mr Justice Bennett said it contradicted the findings of an independent panel and was "bordering on the bizarre".
At a time when feral teenagers are such a hot topic, one would think that sensible discipline would be a plus point. Also, with the utterly appalling case of Baby P. in Haringey, one would also think that officials would jump at the chance to secure a clearly loving home for a stray sibling. London councils are famous for screwy decision making, but this is the daftest we’ve seen in many a year.
Piccie from armenotti’s Londonist flickr stream.
