Britain is united against the bigots of Rotherham Council. Some good may come ... - Telegraph.co.uk (blog)

The true face of Rotherham Council

Few stories have occupied the airwaves like the story, broken by The Daily Telegraph, of Labour-run Rotherham Council's decision to remove three young children from their foster parents, based on nought but the parents' political allegiance. UKIP members, the couple have an "exemplary" record; the youngsters were said to be thriving in their care and the eldest had begun to refer to them as "mum and dad". But why let the real issue, the welfare of these children, spoil a chance by the Left to punish "the Right" in the name of diversity and "multiculturalism"?

It is a story that has struck at the heart of how we see ourselves as a nation. Britain is a tolerant land; one that believes in plurality and fair play. What has happened in Rotherham is neither fair nor just, and once again it is those most innocent who bear the greatest suffering, not just the foster parents whose only crime was to support UKIP, a libertarian, not racist, political party. To clarify, UKIP's immigration policy is sensible, not racist: it opposes further uncontrolled immigration to a country whose jobs market and public services are already stretched. There is no talk of repatriation or "race".

The messages of support for the couple and outrage at Rotherham's social services, run by the defensive and unrepentant Joyce Thacker, show the gut decency of the people of Britain. Meanwhile, the twisting and turning of Thacker since the story broke has been instructive. First it was "racism", and then she switched the accusation to a requirement that foster parents believe in state multiculturalism. Dos Rotherham's child services really think that nobody who questions the exceptionally questionable doctrine of multiculturalism should be allowed to foster?

Perhaps that is the plan; indoctrinate the children young, bring them up in Left-leaning households on a diet of statist ideology so they never question the system that controls their futures.

The council has blurred an essential line between the political doctrine of multiculturalism and safeguarding heritage, which is cultural celebration. In their dash to moral judgment, some people in the local authority have decided that it is better to create further upheaval in the lives of vulnerable children rather than entrust them to people who have seven years' experience of fostering, whom the council itself acknowledges had been providing good care.

We in UKIP will be demanding to find out who in the council was responsible for the decision to remove these children from a loving family. We want to know what the inspection grading at Rotherham council's children's services is. We will be demanding that whoever was responsible will be held to account and we will hope that clear guidance will go out ensuring that this never happens again. Rotherham has been panicked into launching an inquiry, Ed Miliband is calling for one, too – but inevitably these inquiries are a smokescreen to show the actors are "doing something". In this case, that is not enough; heads should roll, policies must change, the welfare of kids must come before politics.

There is a positive side to this dreadful story, though. That is the near unanimity from politicians, commentators and ordinary people who are horrified by what they have learnt. That everybody seems to agree that this is not how they want our country to be run gives me the hope that, by the end of all this, Britain will emerge more tolerant and less divided.

The bigots here are Rotherham's social services, not the devastated couple who willingly opened their home to support vulnerable children.

Read Alexandra Swann's new Telegraph blog here