Posted on January 30, 2009 - by Calvin L. Smith

A Letter to Gordon Brown

This post will make little sense unless you read my last post. I urge you to bring both this and the last post to the attention of as many people, churches and church leaders as possible. It is only through a concerted effort can we make any difference. Even if they do not listen, like some of the prophets of old who were destined to speak out but be ignored, we can still make our voices heard. In short, our country’s leaders need to know there are many who are distraught at how society is developing and disagree deeply with how they have governed.

I was asked for a model letter for people to use. Find below my letter to Gordon Brown, which is perhaps a little too long to be a good model (I’ve included another near the bottom of this page). Let me make some suggestions. I have chosen to make the issue of taking children away so easily from family and place them with complete strangers at the whim of unelected officials the main thrust of my objection. I also highlight the monstrosity of Social Services threatening the grandparents with never seeing their children again for objecting to their grandchildren being adopted by a gay couple. These are not the actions of a civilised country which believes in free speech. This may be an approach you wish to take, others of you may prefer to object to gay adoptions. Such a stance is unlikely to be listened to, but that is hardly the point. You must say what you feel, without ranting.

Ideally, keep your letter shorter than mine and get straight to the point. Also, if possible get individual family members to send their own letters, rather than just sending one per household.  Finally, we are trying to get an online petition authorised though Number 10 (more details to follow), so when it is set up please sign this too, but not at the expense of sending letters to government ministers and your MP. I’ve also included mailing addresses and some suggestions of who to write to. Anyway, enough yacking, here is what I wrote to the PM:

Dear Mr Brown

I refer to the widely reported story this week concerning Edinburgh Social Services preventing a couple from adopting their own grandchildren and instead placing them with complete strangers.

This story has caused considerable disquiet among my colleagues, students and across the religious community. It is deeply troubling a decision to take young children from their family can be so easily made by unelected officials behind closed doors.

It is also shocking that when the grandparents opposed the decision to place the children with a gay couple they were branded homophobic and threatened with never seeing their grandchildren again. That several heterosexual couples were willing to adopt indicates Edinburgh Social Services’ decision was based purely on ideology and smacks of spite.

How did we ever reach such a stage in our society whereby children are so casually and frequently taken from their families, or that family members who object are threatened with never seeing their children again? Frankly, these almost weekly reports are not the actions of a civilised country. Indeed, they are reminiscent of how the former East Bloc treated enemies of the state. Britain’s famous values of tolerance, compassion, sense of fair play and its championing of the vulnerable have arguably been replaced with intolerance, decisions based on ideology, and the bullying of everyday families.

Mr Brown, I urge you to intervene urgently in this case so that these young children, who are devastated by this decision, can remain with their grandparents. I further urge you to work towards making Britain’s highly secretive family courts more transparent. A Times columnist has campaigned for this tirelessly. Why hasn’t the government supported her efforts?

I am writing other party leaders for their views and intervention, and I will be encouraging as many of my colleagues and others to do likewise. Many people – Christians, those from other faiths or none – are deeply troubled by these many stories, suggesting the party seen to champion families who are unnecessarily persecuted by local officials may enjoy considerable support at the forthcoming election.

I await your reply.

Sincerely

Dr Calvin L. Smith
Principal, King’s Evangelical Divinity School

A Model Letter

Dear…

I refer to the widely publicised story this week concerning how Edinburgh Social Services have prevented a couple from adopting their own grandchildren and instead place them with complete strangers.

It is wrong for children and the family as a whole to be traumatised in this way on the basis that the grandparents are too old, especially from a government which claims to oppose age discrimination. It is even more shocking that the grandparents have been threatened with never seeing the children again simply on the basis that they objected to them being adopted by a gay couple. Where are our jealously guarded principles of conscience or free speech here? Such a threat is monstrous, and as a Prime Minister who prides himself on moral governance I urge you to intervene for the sake of the family and children, who are distraught at this decision.

I have also written to the Leader of the Opposition for his views and intervention as this is a matter of utmost importance for my family and me and will have a bearing on how we vote at the forthcoming election.

Sincerely

When you write to your local MP, you can do it through this website: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp But remember, written letters count for several emails, while a letter is more valuable than a dozen `phone calls. The address to send written letters to is:

(Prime Minister’s, Minister’s or MP’s name)
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0PW

Some People To Write

Prime Minister Gordon Brown
The Children’s Minister
Local Government Minister
Your local MP (let them know your vote depends on it)
Leader of the Opposition David Cameron (ask him to raise it at Prime Minister’s Questions - if he sees it concerns enough people he may take it up)
Other Oppositition leaders (let them know you want to know what they are going to do about secretive family carts which make such decisions)

The Online Petition

When it is authorised (we’ve applied to run this petition on Number 10’s site) please sign it and get as many people as you can to do so. Nothing will look siller than just a hundred or so signatures. But do NOT sign the petition instead of writeinga letter(s). Ideally do both, but if you must choose, write a letter (however, signing the petition takes just seconds, so do both). Anyway, the petition details will follow shortly

Dr Calvin L. Smith is Principal and Lecturer in Theology at King’s Evangelical Divinity School.

UPDATE (5 Feb 2009)

I have been informed that the online petition at Number 10 I attempted to organise has been blocked on the grounds that legal cases such as this should be referred to the Home Office. This doesn’t sound very reasonable, given the nature of some of the petitions posted on the Number 10 website. Therefore, the only way to be heard is by writing a letter to your MP and government ministers. I will post replies I receive.