A warning ignored

Michael

“I will do whatever it takes to make sure children in Haringey are safe. That is my priority.”

So says Ed Balls.
The ONLY priority that government has is protecting its backside. The fact that Baby P died means that Ed Balls has failed. The Labour Government has failed and should hang its head in shame. Their prime consideration is always political, doing down the Tories, and bragging. The whole miserable shower is doomed.

Mike, Brighton

This is about to get very nasty and political.
How can the government have ignored the claims of a whistle blower without investigating their substance?
Why was this not acted upon?
How can the government allow (Labour) Haringey council to gag this whistleblower with an injunction?
and the killer:
Many, many years after the squalid death of Victoria Climbe have the findings of the subsequent inquiry been acted upon?

Burt

This is utterly scandalous.

Could Brown have known this when he stonewalled Cameron?

Ray

Meanwhile, as I alerted Coffeehousers earlier this year, the Government is mandating all councils to recruit "Sudden Child Death Co-ordinators" on £30,000 a year to try and spot these kind of trends.

However, given what has happened in Haringey, I suspect these SCD co-ordinators will simply prove to be yet another expensive layer of bureaucracy that will still fail to spot this kind of abuse going on, the tell-tale signs of which any of you mothers out there would usually be able to point out within seconds of meeting and talking to such hapless children.

Haringey is a classic tale of how more government seldom translates into better service provision. Suitably fired up, it's therefore time for David Cameron to let rip into Brown for whole monstrous edifice of nanny state meddling that even now is incapable of spotting when a terrified little boy is being tortured.

Roger Thornhill

The only "safeguarding"* that appeared to be going on was of the arses of those in Haringey.

* an odious example of newspeak if ever there was one

Roger Thornhill

p.s. As a blogger Old Holborn pointed out, if Baby P were a kitten, the RSPCA would have acted on the first incident.

As if Baby P is any less vulnerable?

Richard

If a business caused the death of a child through gross negligence, the directors' feet would not touch the ground on their way to a trial for corporate manslaughter.

Why is the public sector exempt from the corporate manslaughter laws?

Drew

I wonder how the Learned Judge that handed down this disgraceful gagging order feels this morning?

He too should be named and shamed and sacked, along with the lawyers who sought the order.

But of course, it's probably an offence to even ask the cretin's name.

mark c

richard .. could not agree more ... did i read that the poor child was seen more than 60 times in its 17 months, thats just about once every 8 days ? how did it end in a death and why is no one accountable ?

Nicholas

"This is about to get very nasty and political."

Doubt it. The BBC will do their utmost to bury the story and instead lead with something damning about the Tories. Labour will spin another layer of deception and re-write their record once again to cover their arses against any new and damaging information. All the left wing idiots polling in support of Brown will continue to do so.

The emergence of these new facts and the decision by Ed Balls to send in the investigators completely vindicates David Cameron's question in PMQs on Wednesday. Has anyone in the media acknowledged that fact or given him credit for it? No.

A council instigates a legal injunction to prevent a whistleblower talking about the very issues now under scrutiny and raising allegations that appear now to have some basis of truth. Yet still no-one has resigned in shame and no-one is accountable. After a rising tide of public indignation a spokesperson for the council is finally winkled out to articulate a "truly sorry" from a huge meeting room that looks new, plush and expensive. No doubt the council-tax funded scene of many earnest "co-ordinating" meetings and much leftist right-on blather. The forced "truly sorry" is more about damage control and covering arses again than any heartfelt regret for a cock-up of astronomical proportion. And why doesn't Shoesmith face the camera and make it? Doesn't awesome responsibility come with an awesome salary?

Honesty and accountability? Plain speaking? Action rather than words? Real results rather than good intentions or unintended consequences? Don't expect any from this abysmal government, its local councils or its media stooges.

The situation is appalling and seems to get worse. 50 years ago this whole shambolic mob would have fallen or resigned by now, instead of being able to barricade themselves behind piled up walls of lies and excuses where they have the incredible audacity to continue to lecture us about how to behave.

Aidan

The Government has form here. Don't forget that they made Margaret Hodge Children's Minister, despite the fact that she was Leader of Islington Council at a time when children were being abused in council-run homes

Roger Davies

I note that Hewitt's response was to protect her arse. Still that's Labour for you, always quick to run for the moral high ground always last in taking responsibility.
I suspect that we could protect children better if we closed down Social Services and recruited more Bobbies on the beat and District Nurses.

euro

Cassius explains the mistake made by ministers:-

http://cassiuswrites.blogspot.com/2008/11/haringey-ministerial-dissembly-begins.html

Hysteria

re the RSPCA approach - I might be wrong but I think they are funded by voluntary subscription - I know the RNLI is.

If so, this is another indicator that the state will never be as good as concerned individuals in helping the defenceless.

Massive tax cuts please, plus tax allowance for contributions to charities.

citizen a

The David Kelly affair never cost them any votes

citizen a

The David Kelly affair never cost them any votes

Carol-Ann

This is a national scandal. How can we trust this Government to get justice for baby p when all they care about is protecting themselves. Haringey is a total disgrace and their attitude stinks. I hope to God they are voted out at the next locals because unless their cushy jobs are on the line they're not interested. If this was a private sector company they would be charged with cororate manslaughter.

Donna Evans, UK

Dismissing, gagging and smearing a whistleblower who had the welfare of children as her top priority and not her own self interest doesn't suprise me in the least. This government has form on this remember they sacked that man who blew the whistle on the immigration scandal that resulted in Beverley Hughes last resignation. In my view if there where more social workers like Nevres Kemal and less like the ones currently employed by Haringey we wouldn't be in this situation.

Carly

Heads must roll over this or there is going to be hell to pay. I don't think people will be able to stomach the usual mantra of lessons learned, move on.

Disgusted

This story is truly horrific and the reading the disturbing details breaks my heart. How those in charge sleep at night is beyond me. Of course the people responsible are the sick and depraved individuals that perpetrated the torture on this innocent child but Haringey social services have to take some of the blame for they had numerous opportunities to remove the child and therefore prevent his death. I am thinking in particular of the social worker who twice defied senior police officers and returned the child to it's mother.

STAN, UK

Don't expect this government to do anything to the incompetants at Haringey social services, Diane Abbott revealed on last night's This Week that the woman in charge of Haringey when Climbie happened was later PROMOTED! That is how much Labour care about the protection of children.

LABOUROUT

Well that puts an end to any dreams the over hyped David Lammy had of becoming the British Obama, don't cha think?