A Birmingham MP is urging parents suspected of child abuse to flee the country rather than face justice in the Family Courts 鈥渂ecause you can鈥檛 rely on the evidence being fair鈥.
Yardley Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who is chairman of the Justice for Families campaign group, said he has been contacted by hundreds of parents who claim they have been unfairly targeted by social services.
He tells Panorama that he believes parents cannot expect a fair hearing when the Family Courts decide whether their children should be taken into care.
鈥淎ll the cards are held by the local authority. It has large resources to fight the cases, it does all the assessments,鈥 he said.
鈥淢y advice to people if they can afford it is just to go abroad.
"You can鈥檛 get a fair trial here, because you can鈥檛 rely on the evidence being fair.
"It鈥檚 best simply to go if you can, at the right time, lawfully.鈥
says that last year local authorities made a record 10,000 applications to take children away from their parents and into care, leading to claims that social workers may be overreacting in the wake of cases such as that of Baby P.
But the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), which looks after the interests of children in family proceedings, said more youngsters are being protected.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 play poker with children鈥檚 safety, we鈥檝e got to have a system that plays it safe to begin with,鈥 chief executive Anthony Douglas said.
- Panorama's "I Want My Baby Back" is screened at 9pm on BBC1 on Monday, January 13
