I AM in no way condoning how families have been treated by Children’s Services in Herefordshire over the years, but there is a wider political context to what has happened in Herefordshire.

I was rather surprised that Sir Bill Wiggin has challenged ITV to expose the situation.

ALSO READ:

Herefordshire’s families have not suffered in isolation. Polly Curtis’s book Behind Closed Doors explains that the UK removes ‘more children from their parents than any time since records began, more than other western countries. Mothers are punished. Fathers are ignored. Social workers are burning out. Poverty is invisible. Children are failed.’

What are your thoughts?

You can send a letter to the editor to have your say by clicking here.

Letters should not exceed 250 words and local issues take precedence.

The socio-economic experiment called austerity, that Sir Bill’s government has presided over, pulled the rug from under the feet of our most vulnerable and poorest families.

Decimating Early Help gave courts little choice but to remove children from struggling families – harbouring further problems for posterity.

We all need to be part of a changing culture that nurtures families so all children can thrive. Those of us who work with Ellie Chowns, North Herefordshire’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the Green Party, know of her absolute commitment to social justice.

Her sharp intellect, attention to detail and enormous heart make Ellie the perfect candidate to oversee the changes we desperately need to transform our society, from the very top, right to the bottom.

TONI FAGAN

Green Party councillor for Birch ward, Llanwarne