Children

Children, and children's rights

No to anti-Roma racism!

Solidarity 301 (25 October) reported on the case of Maria, the “unusual” girl found living in a Roma community in Greece and removed from her family. Fanned by racist outcries from the media, Maria was quickly proclaimed to probably be of Northern or Eastern European origin and in all likelihood trafficked, all based on her physical appearance. The reason the Greek authorities gave for their suspicions about her origin was the inability of the family to produce documents for Maria. Solidarity rightly pointed out at the time that many Roma travel and live without documents, often unable to...

Mob mentality blocks fight for better future

Hamzah Khan’s death through starvation in 2009, the discovery of his mummified body two years later and the recent conviction of his mother, Amanda Hutton, has brought a horrific case of neglect and abuse to public attention. Judge Roger Thomas QC said it was “as bad a case of unlawful killing of a child by a parent as it is possible to imagine”. From what we know, Hamzah was starved to death by extreme neglect from his mother, who was his sole carer. At the time of his death in December 2009, the four year-old child was still wearing a size 6-9 month baby-gro and a nappy. His mummified...

Tories push kids into poverty; Labour says "give up"

Share prices are going up. Profits are increasing. Top bosses' pay is soaring. And child poverty is rising almost as fast. According to a new report from the conservative Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS): "Tax and benefit reforms introduced since April 2010 can account for almost all of the increase in child poverty projected over the next few years using the absolute low-income measure; using the relative low-income measure, child poverty would actually have fallen in the absence of reforms as a result of falls in median income". Coalition government policies will continue to drive up child...

Aimless toddlers?

Elizabeth Truss, Tory Childcare Minster, says toddlers in nurseries “run around aimlessly”. She says they should be in a more structured environment, learning the skills they will need when they get to “big school” (i.e. reception class). Who is this woman? Has she ever met a toddler and what is she going on about? Elizabeth Truss employs a nanny to look after her two children. Possibly the only context she’s ever met a toddler is one in which they are fed, watered, shiny from the bath, and ready for bed. Many toddlers do indeed like to run around. But the activity is not pointless. Give them...

UKIP foster scandal: children should come first

The exact facts surrounding the political row about the UKIP-member foster carers from Rotherham are unclear. No child, whatever their background, should be fostered by racists. It is the thankless job of social workers to ensure that doesn’t happen; mistakes are bound to be made. In Rotherham, where this week a by-election to replace expenses-fiddling Labour MP Denis MacShane takes place, every politician has declared that a mistake has indeed been made. But how do they know that? Are they childcare professionals with access to the confidential information? Representatives of the Labour...

A system where the rich get away with child abuse

If you’re rich and well-connected, you can get away with child abuse. That’s how this system works. Ex-Tory MP Rod Richards claims to have seen evidence implicating Peter Morrison, a very high-placed Tory, in systematic child abuse around North Wales children's homes between 1974 and 1990. Morrison was parliamentary private secretary to prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1990, and organiser of Thatcher’s failed effort to retain the Tory leadership that year. Another leading Tory, not yet named, is also said to have been involved. The North Wales child abuse took 16 years to get out. Then...

Learning the wrong lessons from BBC Savile scandal

Anger and outrage at the vile crimes committed against children is of course universal, as is shock that the widespread rumours about Savile were never acted upon and the victims were ignored. If you read any of the Mail, Express or Sun, however, there is no avoiding their sense of glee that the organisation at the centre of the controversy is the BBC. The publicly-funded broadcasting corporation is a target for the right-wing press at the best of times, portrayed as the main source of left-wing propaganda, purveyor of loose morals and a tax-payer funded competitor to the privately-owned and...

Tories tell poor: “stop breeding”

Iain Duncan Smith has announced that the government is considering capping children-related benefits at two children, essentially telling poor families to stop breeding. He explicitly said the move is being considered in order to disincentivise poor families from having more children: “When you look at families across the board across all incomes, you find the vast majority make decisions about the number of children they have, the families they want, based on what they think they can afford,” he said, while criticising the “clustering” of larger families on welfare and benefits. Fancy words...

Learn the lessons of Savile scandal

Allegations of rape and sexual assault against Jimmy Savile have now reached 340 lines of inquiry with 40 potential victims. Questions are raised about sexism; gender dynamics; why “stranger rape” persists as the dominant conception of sexual assault; and how behaviours are dismissed as normal or inevitable (a Stoke Mandeville hospital trainee occupational therapist had concerns but thought Savile was “just a pervy old man”). But, as the list of implicated organisations grows, the case raises serious questions about services, accountability and safeguarding. Fundamentally, a severe lack of...

Rich get richer, kids go hungry

3.5 million children in Britain are living in poverty. That is the headline of “It Shouldn’t Happen Here”, a report published by the charity Save the Children report last week. Best known for their work with the poorest children in “third world” countries, Save the Children have launched a campaign for Britain’s children living in poverty (defined by the report as coming from a family with less than 60% of the median income). That’s the rising number of children going hungry, malnourished, in need of new shoes, and warm clothes; always excluded from school trips, unable to have friends round...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.