Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Daily Mail...

...newspaper has this week been highlighting the case of a middle-aged couple banned from adopting their own grandchildren, and forced to see them adopted by two men, who are unknown to the family. The grandparents are not elderly, and have been caring for the children since their daughter went astray (drugs, unsuitable men, etc etc) and it seemed sensible for the local Social services to formalise this arrangement - the daughter, recognising her own deficiencies, was also keen. But no - political correctness prevailed, and the children will be handed over to the men, (whom they do not yet know but to whom they are being introduced week by week) and who are in a formal Civil-Partnership-style arrangement.

There is particular concern for the little girl, who would like to have a mother/grandmother around as she grows up.

What is happening to our country?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well naturally that would be exactly the stance the Daily Mail would be expected to take. You cannot possibly know from a (so-called) newspaper what the background to this story really is. Bear in mind that anyone applying to adopt children is rigourously investigated, and that there will be very good but of course confidential reasons why the grandparents are not suitable carers for the children.

Anonymous said...

Labour is anti family and any future Tory government would be no different.

If a public sector worker states that children are better off with a mother and father known to them, they're leaving themselves open to possible arrest in modern Britain.

Ben Kelly, Osaka, Japan.

Anonymous said...

The writers at the Daily Mail obviously have not the wisdom of their counterparts at real newspapers, such as the Guardian or the Independent, and so do not realize (yes, I am one of those gun-clinging, religion-believing Americans our new president has so much difficulty understanding) that the state knows best in these matters. Codswallop.

Tom H

Anonymous said...

Gun clinging, religion believing? Dear God Joanna - what kind of people are you mixing with?

Anonymous said...

What's really horrible is that of the two children the little girl was described as being "uncomfortable" with men. (One suspects an abusive father!) So what do Social Services do? They place her and her brother with two men, with no female contact.

Yes, I'm a man, and for me this turns a moral outrage into some personally quite sickening.

Merseymike said...

We don't know the detail of the case on which the judgment has been based. Just what the Daily Mail has told us which is very unlikely to be objective

What is happening to our country - mine just as much as yours - is that there is now no legal discrimination against gay and lesbian people. I welcome that. You don't.

And as much as I dislike everything your religion stands for, I believe in your right to practice it. Pity the same is so rarely true the other way round

Nerina said...

Joanna,

This story has been on my mind for days and my heart breaks for the children most of all. The grandparents are 59 and 46 and the grandmother is a mother of seven children herself. Yet, they were deemed incapable of raising these two children?

Anon(10:43), Tom H is referring to a stereotypical comment made during the presidential campaign in the States that assumes anyone who is religious also likes to "cling to their guns." The inference is obvious - religious people are scared, simple people who can't think for themselves.

I don't know anything about the press in England, but in the States, most news outlets are very left-leaning. This story is very troubling because it does seem to hint that stable families are no longer necessary for a stable society. This type of thinking can not help but have very serious ramifications.

Merseymike, I have no problem with you "disliking everything" the Catholic Faith stands for, but I would suggest you don't actually KNOW what the Catholic Church stands for but only "know" what a biased media has fed you. There are many people out there in the same boat as you.

The Church does not "hate" gay people nor does she condone the mistreatment of gay people. That doesn't mean that she must support gay people in marriage or as parents. Marriage is a gift as are children.

lvschant said...

I am quite puzzled why a couple previously unknown to the children would be given preference over blood relations. One report I read seemed to hint that the age of the grandparents was a big consideration. If so, I find it a very sad thing. My youngest child was born to us when I was 41 years old... a 46 year old grandmother sounds pretty young to me.