An appalling vista looms on childcare - Fears grow on child protection

WHEN, in 1980, the late Lord Denning made his infamous “an appalling vista” remark, about the integrity of the convictions of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four, his great concern, later confirmed, was that a trusted, essential arm of the state — Britain’s Midlands Police — had lied to secure those dishonest convictions.

The police, like the judiciary in which Denning served, were, and are, bulwarks of any country’s establishment. To do their work, both depend on the moral authority given by a trusting public. That authority all but collapsed in Britain in cases involving Irish defendants, when Denning’s fears were realised.

In this society, where we have had to face shaming, foundations-shaking report after report, confirming that this was a very dangerous country for far too many isolated and vulnerable children, we face our own “appalling vista”.