to think Rotherham council have lost the plot over UKIP foster-carers?

[londonone]

bbc

I really really hope there is more to this than is being reported, otherwise I am utterly speechless.

We are moving to a similar system to Australia aren't we? A points system is being introduced.

I am British and living in another country. If something happened to DH and I, would you be comfortable with our DS being sent to a foster carer who believed British people have no right to be here? Who, however subtly, would imply to him that British culture is inferior and that there was no need for him to maintain any British cultural links?

I find it scary that anyone is willing to support a party that wants to scrap The Human Rights act and wants to bring back the death sentence.
Very scary.

Australia is quite anti immigration though, didn't they let a boat of illegal immigrants sink off the coast a few years ago rather than rescue them? I remember something about that.

I think this council got it right. The couple aren't being discriminated against, the decision has simply been made that they are not suitable foster carers for these particular children due to their belief that these children should not be in the country in the first place. They hold very intolerant views, and have even gone so far as to make it official, by joining UKIP.

Nigel Farage (interesting that his name sounds distinctly European but never mind that eh?!) was just on the BBC news saying that this couple 'should be put back on the list' for fostering, which is stirring up outrage based on a fiction - they haven't been removed from any list, it's just this one placement that has been ended.

This is what they do, they use half truths and exaggerate things to stir up the tabloids and public opinion. Anyone who supports these idiots is extremely misguided at best, and bigoted at worst. IMO.

OP YABU!

Personally, it's not only their immigration views that concern me. UKIP's education policy includes corporal punishment being returned to UK schools. How can the state give them other people's children to look after knowing they believe that representatives of the state should have the power to beat them?

"It's disgusting that people can have their children taken away from them for their political beliefs."

And indeed it would be disgusting, if that were what had happened. What a good thing the facts of the matter are completely different, eh?

How did the council know that the foster couple were members of UKIP?

Were they 'members' of the party, or did they simply vote for the party? (I've seen it reported both ways)

What business is it of anyone else which political party a person votes for? You know, I don't even know who DH votes for - its none of my business.

Where are the children now? Are they in a 'more suitable' home? I hope they aren't in a children's home . In fact, where are the parents, did they know or approve (or not) of the placement?

I do hate half hearted reporting. The leader of UKIP was interviewed on Sky News this morning and he sounded horrified by all this - at pains to point out that the SW had called the foster mother 'racist' as well as saying that membership of UKIP was racist. But then I cannot see that reported, well not by the BBC.

On the bare bones of the reporting this seems a crazy decision, there must be more to it - otherwise it seems very heavy handed. People are quick to make assumptions when the full facts aren't revealed.

They are members. Not just voters.

In certain positions, political affiliation is the business of others. The police for example. Positions of trust and authority.

I don't think you necessarily have to be a racist to question whether multiculturalism is a good idea. Societies need some common cultural ground in order to have any sense of cohesion, but the doctrine of multiculturalism says that it's possible, indeed desirable, for multiple (possibly conflicting) cultures to coexist without making any attempt to merge.

The only way this can happen is either by reducing the differences between cultures to a set of kitsch oversimplifications (Disney 'Children of the World' style) or by encouraging the creation of ghettos with little or no intermingling.

Questioning the wisdom of either of these approaches does not imply anything about the relative merits of different cultures, or the ethnicities who espouse them. It simply makes a statement in favour of relative cultural cohesion.

Personally I don't rate UKIP as a set of politicians, but I do agree with them that multiculturalism is rooted in wishful thinking rather than any observable reality and should not be encouraged at the state level.

Rotherham Council's record on multiculturalism/child protection:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2209261/Council-83-warnings-sex-abuse-town-Asian-sex-gang-spent-years-raping-dozens-children-young-10.html
rotherhampolitics.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/017_annual-assessment-of-childrens-services-as-pdf1.pdf
rotherhampolitics.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/joyce-thackers-priority-find-the-whistle-blower/
rotherhampolitics.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/the-times-in-full-heads-must-surelyroll/

I think it was wrong to take the children away because of the politics of the foster parents. UKIP isn't BNP is it. I am getting a bit fed up of Labour thinking. Everyone is wrong except us because we're always right. It is getting so boring. Have got right off Labour lately. They've gone back decades.

Oh dear. The thought police in action. How disgusting. Poor children. I wonder if they would be removed from parents who had voted for the "Respect" party?

The parentif they are members of UKIP have signed up (wittingly or unwittingly) to this:

End the active promotion of the doctrine of multiculturalism by local and national government and all publicly funded bodies

They would have had to make that clear when they went to the foster carer application process. I'm wondering if they didn't make it clear back then, and it has since emerged.

I think this sets a dangerous precedent. If you don't vote for the right people, you will have your 'privileges' removed. This sort of thing frightens me.

This.

For goodness' sake.
Can you imagine the uproar if a conservative council removed children from parents who were raging socialists because they thought socialism was dangerous?

The parents if sorry

It sounds like they acted in the best interests of the children, tbh. If they are members of UKIP, then can totally see why there would be cause for concern of the children's emotional well being.

I think Rotherham should perhaps consider twinning itself with Cairo as Rotherham council seem to share the same ideology as Morsi (there is only one correct way to think and those that do not think in this way will be punished).

Maybe they should consider removing children from parents who are members of the Socialist Workers Party. After all, the Communist ideology has killed over 100 million people.

The children ARE British. Something-British is still British.

If the parents were racists why would they want to foster immigrant children? Rotherham borough council are a bunch of nutters and I think this will be the scandal that causes their demise.

This isn't about thought police FFS. It's about the welfare of vulnerable children who were mistakenly placed in a family that doesn't believe in their right to be here. It's quite simple really. That will be damaging to the children, as their attitude will filter through even if they try to hide it. At the very least they're a pair of idiots to belong to that bunch.

I think the council did the right thing. I can well imagine that there is a lot more to this than is being reported.

These children have been removed from a temporary placement that does not meet their needs. The foster parents haven't been banned from being foster patents, but just that they aren't the right fit for these children.

I'd be interested to know how they found out they were UKIP members? Did something happen that instigated a further check on the foster parents? Or did it just come up through routine screening?

Whilst I can understand the argument against strict multicultarism I think that if you're unwilling to support a child coming to grips with their dual cultural background then I don't think that would be helpful to the child.

Why are they "idiots" for being UKIP members?