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Abuse allegations must be investigated properly
• THE tragic story of Baby P in neighbouring Haringey has shocked us all and shows that the present child protection system is in need of change so that these horrific events are not repeated (Baby P’s mother ‘needed help and didn’t get it’, November 28).
What stands out in this case, which was also reflected in the case of Victoria Climbié, and in last week’s news story about the Sheffield father who raped his two daughters, was that allegations of child abuse were not thoroughly investigated.
We have been advising parents and carers falsely accused of abusing children in their care for more than 20 years.
A common theme in the vast majority of the hundreds of cases we deal with each year – and this includes Islington families – is the lack of a thorough investigation of the allegations.
Social workers can make wrong decisions, either in leaving children in situations where they are abused or by removing them from parents who have not abused them, but until we get to the point of informed decision-making based on what has actually happened we will keep on reading about these tragic cases, the lessons to be learnt and that it should never happen again.
Trevor Jones,
National co-ordinator, Parents Against Injustice, Hanley Road, N4
• WHAT happened to Baby P is no more shocking than the fate of more than 600 unborn babies every day in abortion mills up and down the country (Insult to Baby P, November 28). But there are few tears shed for the unborn.
The anti-life mindset unleashed by David Steel’s 1967 Act has far-reaching consequences for us all. We wonder where it all went wrong in our violent, knife-wielding society, but how can we expect to be safe in our streets and even in our homes when innocent babies are not safe in their mother’s womb?
There is now a clamour from some people who demand the “right” to terminate their own lives. They want “no prosecution” for anyone aiding and abetting them. Mark my words, if voluntary euthanasia ever becomes legal, this is only one step away from it becoming compulsory – for the elderly, disabled and anyone else deemed “disposable”.
Once we have embarked on that slippery anti-life slope, there will be no U-turn from it.
Patrick McKay
Goswell Road, EC1
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