It only takes us 22 days to borrow the £8.5bn we hand out so generously every year, saysChristopher Booker. 28 May 2011 After a campaign supported by the Telegraph and its readers, Fijian soldier Epeli Uluilakeba, who was wounded in Iraq, will be allowed to stay in Britain, says Christopher Booker. 28 May 2011 The walls of secrecy surrounding snatched children are creating a one-sided justice system, arguesChristopher Booker. 28 May 2011 The Welsh Assembly's plans to install 800 giant wind turbines in mid-Wales make no economic sense, says Christopher Booker. 21 May 2011 As pundits chatter of Cameron's greatness, Britain's national debt spirals out of control and it has no workable energy policy, says Christopher Booker. 21 May 2011 A British woman has given birth in Ireland to stop Nottinghamshire social workers from seizing her child, says Christopher Booker. 21 May 2011 The judgment that Mr Justice Bellamy has published makes for illuminating reading, and not just for its attack on me, says Christopher Booker. 14 May 2011 Former jockey and trainer Vicky Haigh was surprised to discover that she had been declared a 'missing person' by 'her' social worker, writes Christopher Booker. 07 May 2011 It's anathema to environmentalists, but shale gas is a new fossil-fuel source that could power the world for centuries, says Christopher Booker. 07 May 2011 The voting system is not the flaw in our 'democracy': it's the abdication of our powers to unelected politicians in Brussels, says Christopher Booker. 07 May 2011 Using parliamentary privilege, John Hemming MP has named renowned jockey and trainer Vicky Haigh as the woman threatened with imprisonment for speaking to him, writes Christopher Booker. 30 Apr 2011 The Royal Navy won't be flying Anglo-US Joint Strike Fighters, but providing a platform for French Rafales as part of an EU force, writes Christopher Booker. 30 Apr 2011 A veteran campaigner, Neil Herron of Metric Martyrs fame has turned his attention to parking law, writes Christopher Booker. 30 Apr 2011 Perhaps for the first time in a thousand years, the village church will be empty on Easter Sunday, writes Christopher Booker. 23 Apr 2011 The scandal over the funding of the 'Yes' campaign in the AV referendum reveals the effrontery of our political class, says Christopher Booker. 23 Apr 2011 Our coal-fired power stations are closer to extinction than predicted, and wind power stubbornly refuses to fill the gap, says Christopher Booker. 23 Apr 2011 The secrecy of the family courts system has reached a bizarre new extreme, says Christopher Booker. 23 Apr 2011 Pressure is mounting for the US to honour guarantees of safety given to Iranian refugees in Camp Ashraf, writes Christopher Booker. 16 Apr 2011 The high-handed powers of our so-called family protection system threaten even the privileges of Parliament, writes Christopher Booker. 16 Apr 2011 New EU rules will cause Calor to spend millions replacing brand-new tankers, to achieve less efficiency and more pollution, writes Christopher Booker. 16 Apr 2011 There's a pattern in the unravelling of make-believe projects, whether it's wind power or the euro, says Christopher Booker. 09 Apr 2011 Government spending will actually increase over the next few years, despite the BBC's claims, says Christopher Booker. 02 Apr 2011 David Norgrove's interim review of the family justice system only scratches the surface of what has become a national scandal, says Christopher Booker. 02 Apr 2011 The Government's obsession with its babyish green dreamworld will force the closure of power stations, increase our electricity bills and damage vital industries, warns Christopher Booker 02 Apr 2011 Court orders have been used to stop people protesting to their MPs about social workers, but the Speaker of the Commons seems unconcerned, saysChristopher Booker. 26 Mar 2011 In all the fuss about the secrecy of our courts – after MP John Hemming named a footballer in the Commons – the point where the issue began has been almost entirely lost. Mr Hemming’s concern stems from his longstanding campaign to expose the secrecy surrounding our family courts, where one of the most shocking scandals in Britain today is flourishing, out of public view. This is the increasing number of children who are seized by social workers from loving, responsible parents, thanks to a system which often defies basic principles of justice, humanity and common sense. For example, last week, a woman was warned by a judge that if she raised her case with John Hemming or with a local MP, she would be imprisoned – contrary to one of the most ancient rights of a citizen. It is hard to convey just how one-sided this system has become, behind its wall of secrecy. Another case I have been following concerns a devoted mother who lost her daughter, some years back, after complaining to social workers that the father was abusing their child. Astonishingly, although the couple had parted, the courts gave the father custody of the girl. Two weeks ago, when the mother yet again told social workers that the father was abusing their daughter, they did nothing – but, independently, the police were called and the father was arrested. Social workers asked the mother to sign a document giving her child into foster care. She refused, asking for the girl to be returned to her, and was told to attend court at three o’clock last Monday to hear the council’s application for an emergency care order. She arrived to find the council officials had not turned up, and was told to return at 10 o’clock on Tuesday. Again the officials did not show. Then the mother was told that the order had been given over the telephone the previous evening, by a magistrate at home, which appeared to break all the rules laid down for the granting of an emergency care order. This was apparently confirmed by a judge on Thursday – who nevertheless granted an order according to the proper procedures (the mother not being allowed to speak) and called them all back on Friday to hear an application for an interim care order. Thanks to the complications of the case, he then ruled that the council’s application should be heard in the High Court next month. The mother’s only wish is to be reunited with her child – who apparently says her only wish is to be with her mother. But the implacable system, having made its error, seems determined to stand between them. Thus, hidden from public view, another unhappy family drama unfolds.Christopher Booker
Christopher Booker of The Sunday Telegraph exposes
the ever-growing power of the European Union in Brussels
and the excesses of mad officialdom.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER LATEST
Overseas aid: We borrow to give to the world
War hero Pex wins right to stay
The real scandal hidden by gags is what goes on in family courts
Wales in revolt over mammoth wind farm scheme
The talk of David Cameron's leadership qualities obscures the mess he's leading us into
Vicky Haigh saves her baby from the clutches of the social workers
A judge attacks my 'one-sided' child protection stories - but it cuts both ways
The police hunt is on for Vicky Haigh, though she is not a 'missing person'
Shale gas could solve the world's energy problems
The farce of an AV referendum ignored the point of who really governs us
Vicky Haigh flees the babysnatchers
Politicians hide their plans to put French jets on Royal Navy carriers
Neil Herron, Metric Martyr campaigner, took on the parking enforcers for me
A parish church where the Easter Alleluias are only echoes of the past
The AV referendum scandal that calls for a 'No'
New figures show the lights may go out sooner than we thought
The judge has forbidden anyone to tell me what he wanted me to hear
US still fails to keep its word as further massacre looms at Ashraf
A mother is threatened with imprisonment for talking to her MP
Cameron can't cut the EU red tape that will cost Calor millions
What happens when the great fantasies, like wind power or European Union, collide with reality?
Cuts? What cuts? Spending is rising
The family justice system is callous, corrupt and staggeringly expensive
The Budget’s green dreams will leave us powerless
John Bercow fails to back rights of voters banned from talking to their MPs
The real scandal hidden by gags is what goes on in family courts
The walls of secrecy surrounding snatched children are creating a one-sided justice system, argues Christopher Booker.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
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