NanaNina also did a good summary of concerns on a previous thread
NanaNina Fri 06-Dec-13 00:46:42
Spero I feel I must come on to support you, as you are doing a sterling job attempting to have a rational debate with JH even when you know that is an impossible task. Some of your posts have made me smile (a lot) and I think you have succeeded in rattling JH, which is a rare occurrence as in my view he is usually impervious to criticism and just pops back up with some wild allegation or a soundbite that makes little sense.
OK JH you can sue me too for defamation because I know you tell lies. I have a long memory and can recall you making these claims in the past.
- Your belief that ALL professionals involved in care proceedings are evil and are all part of a conspiracy to "snatch babies" from loving parents to get them adopted. You call this "forced adoption." You include in that conspiracy theory that lawyers not only for the LA but also the lawyers/counsel for the birthparents. Indeed you commented that such lawyers "roll over and agree with the LA because they have a mortgage to pay." It was in fact this last comment that made Spero retaliate in her usual impressive and cohesive manner, and she was rightly very angry that you could tell such lies. You believe that the Judge is also part of the conspiracy theory. These are monstrous lies and I fail to understand how an elected MP can tell such truly shocking lies and not be brought to book - shame on the LibDems and Nick Clegg in particular for not putting a stop to an MP telling such horrendous lies.
- You posted on MN that a mother had had her child removed from her because the grandmother called the social worker fat! That was another ludicrous lie
- You claim time and time again that social workers snatch babies to fulfil adoption targets, but you get muddled because some months ago you began to state that there were no longer adoption targets. However now that there are targets in terms of the timeline you can return to your ridiculous notion that social workers are "snatching" babies to fulfil adoption targets. You never produce evidence for any of your allegations.
I note that a poster was asking whether your views were personal or whether you were speaking on behalf of the Liberal Party, and surprise surprise this did not elicit any response. Maybe you would like to respond to that issue???
You claim that the vast majority of MPs are concerned with this case and I find that very difficult to believe. I read that you "spoke to Mr Gove" about the case under discussion and I can't recall your exact words but your comments was something along the lines of "it wasn't his objective" (almost as bad as "they did wrong things") which I take to mean he didn't want to engage with you, as I am sure you are seen as some sort of buffoon in parliament. My partner is a member of the Co-Op Party and was in conversation with a LibDem MP from the North of England and he mention you, and she replied "Oh he's barmy - everyone knows that"
AND JH did you not confuse Nick Owen on Midlands Today recently and I honestly can't recall what absurd claim you were making, but do you recall Nick Owen twice saying to you "I don't know what you mean" and were you able to clarify - NO of course not - just more incoherent bumbling.
For posters who ask why JH isn't doing more to raise the very pertinent issue of the state of Birmingham City Council's Social Services Department - yes you would think this would definitely be an issue which he would be raising in parliament. But nooo - you see JH is not interested in attempting to bring about any improvements in the child protection service in Birmingham, no interest at all. Indeed he has no interest in the safeguarding of children, he is only interested in anything that fits in with his conspiracy theories about snatching babies, and his ability to make cases (such as this one) fit with his conspiracy theory knows no bounds.
Now how about telling us JH about the time you issued a Writ against Birmingham City Council Social Services Department following a personal matter that concerned someone with whom you were involved. I can't remember the exact sum but it was something ludicrous like £300,000 and he particularly specified that this sum should be paid by the social workers who in his perception had acted inappropriately Am I right JH ???? Yes I think I am.
Spero has given a link about the severe criticism that a High Court Judge made about you (Wall LJ) when you were acting as a McKenzie friend in court. I somehow don't think you did that family any favours.
I have said again and again that the people I feel sorry for are parents whose children are at the heart of care proceedings who consult JH as I suspect they think that because he is an MP he can intervene on their behalf in the proceedings and of course he can't. On occasions he has advised parents to cease being legally represented by their chosen lawyer and instead has "given" them someone who works in his organisation (whatever that is) I think he calls her Mrs Smith or something similar and says she is "very good" in these matters. I really feel angry that he is leading these families to believe that he or Mrs Smith or whoever can assist them in court and maybe get their children returned to them. I was taught as a young social worker many moons ago that we must always show respect for people, and I have always stuck to that, no matter how distressing the details of the abuse or neglect that has been perpetrated on a child. I have always been straight with people and have on hundreds of occasions had to tell parents things that they did not want to hear, but that is part of the social work task.
I once asked JH how many "successful cases" his organisation had in terms of getting a child/ren re-united with parents once care proceedings had been initiated and his response was We don't keep those figures ..........yeah right!
I'm sorry for the length of this post and I'm sure JH won't have managed to read it all - he isn't very interested in detail and facts preferring to make wild allegations that are entirely without substance. I'm also sorry if people think this issue with JH is detracting from the thread and I suppose it is to a large extent, but he really is very provocative and insulting to people who are working day in and day out attempting to provide support for families experiencing difficulties and those working in the family courts on a daily basis. Or in his words "Spero and Nananina operating the system." That is a veiled accusation that I am busy snatching babies from loving parents and getting the matter into court to get them adopted and where Spero if she is acting for the parents is "rolling over" and agreeing with the LA because she has a mortgage to pay.
Some posters have asked why they should believe JH rather than professionals involved in the courts in these matters. Well I will leave you to judge that.