Absolute disgrace and real urgency

After an Ofsted report found that 86 of England’s 152 councils had children’s services that were ‘less than good,’ the 15 October 2013 edition of The Guardian quoted Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Schools in England and head of Ofsted, thus:

"As it stands today, there are 20 councils where the standard of child protection is unacceptably poor and judged to be inadequate. Incompetent and ineffective leadership must be addressed quickly… The combination of unstable communities and political and managerial instability in our social care services is a dangerous mix… 

These characteristics of failure have been encapsulated in one area in particular: England's second city, Birmingham, a city where we have had seven failed inspection judgements, eight whistle-blowing incidents in four years, nine years of inadequate serious case reviews, and 10 years of failure for vulnerable children… 

Why is it that infant mortality is almost twice the national average, worse than in Cuba and on a par with Latvia and Chile? They must surely be linked to the evidenced failure of corporate governance on a grand scale, governance that has failed to grasp the nettle over many years and which has relegated our second city to fourth division for children's services. These are shocking statistics and a national disgrace… 

It is an absolute disgrace and government needs to look at this with real urgency."

In governmental terms, Sir Mike, 'absolute disgrace' and 'real urgency' rarely go together.

The 16 December 2013 edition of The Telegraph quoted Sir Michael Wilshaw as saying that Birmingham was ‘one of the worst places to grow up in the developed world.’

He added:

“Why is it that nearly a third of children in the city live in households on low incomes?... These are shocking statistics and a national disgrace. They are a testament to failure of corporate governance on a grand scale…

This is the city council with responsibility for more children than any other, our second city, the largest unitary local authority in the country… Incompetent and ineffective leadership must be addressed quickly…

Some people will tell you that social breakdown is the result of material poverty. It’s more than this. These children lack more than money: They lack parents who take responsibility for seeing them raised well. It is this poverty of accountability which costs them. These children suffer because they are not given clear rules or boundaries, have few secure or safe attachments at home, and little understanding of the difference between right and wrong behaviour.

If we believe that the family is the great educator, and I certainly do believe that, and the community is the great support system, then we as a society should worry deeply about the hollowing out and fragmentation of both.”

Anyone out there remember ‘education, education, education?’ Remember how you voted for that dark, Satanic shill three times? Remember how you voted for Thatcher three times as well?

Remember how, all your life long, you’ve always voted for political parties that cared more for bankers, globalism, brown paper bags full of fivers, America, the EU, Israel, immigrants and political correctness than ever they cared for you or your kids?

What you get if you vote for people who don’t care about you is this:

“Shocking statistics… national disgrace… failure of corporate governance on a grand scale… Incompetent and ineffective leadership… Social breakdown… poverty of accountability… children suffer(ing)… the worst places to grow up in the developed world.”

And children who have ‘little understanding of the difference between right and wrong.’

You voted for it. You got it. Now you must live with it.

As must your children.

And theirs.