| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12.54 pm
Mr. Stephen Pound (Ealing, North): In the course of the debate, two conventions appear to have emerged. The first, with which I happily associate myself, is warmly to congratulate the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) on his success in the private Members' ballot. I should say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that that ballot was conducted excellently, expeditiously and to the highest standards of the House.
The second convention--new to me--is the necessity of hon. Members apologising for not being social workers. I hold no brief for social workers: the majority of them are excellent, hard-working and perhaps underpaid people. I suspect that some of them read The Guardian, but the less said about them, the better. However, one consistent feature of the profession is that social workers are always blamed if they act, and blamed if they do not act. Importantly, the Bill strikes precisely the right balance between what was described as "red tape" and standards and regulations.
We have heard some excellent contributions this morning. I congratulate particularly the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on an extraordinarily wide-ranging and detailed speech, which was refreshed by his personal experiences. On a similar note, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty) once again bestowed on the House the benefit of his wide-ranging life experiences. I understand that the Donegal Democrat--the newspaper from his homeland--features a regular round-up of speeches by my hon. Friend, who has developed a reputation for sweetness, lightness of touch, gentleness and generosity of spirit. I am sure that his speeches will continue to be read with approval by subscribers to the Donegal Democrat.
However, I must counsel hon. Members against researching their family trees. I offer the good example of the Rev. Sydney Smith who, when asked whether he had an idea of his family origins, replied, "Grandfather disappeared at the time of the Assizes; we asked no questions." In my case, one of my grandparents--who is mentioned in hushed tones in the family--was identified as, sadly, having once been the Conservative mayor of Bognor Regis. His name is never spoken.
On the substance of the Bill, it may be said that a Bill of this importance that legislates for such a small number of people--possibly only 300 per annum--is not the best use of parliamentary time. I think it is the very best use of parliamentary time. It is in the best traditions of the House that right hon. and hon. Members should concentrate so much time and effort on not only resolving an anomaly, but adding to the sum total of human happiness. It is all the better that we are concentrating our minds and efforts on a measure that applies to only a small number of people.
In discussing legislation, one describes not only what it is, but what it is not. A theme that has run consistently through today's debate is the utter abhorrence of the
system of "pick a blue-eyed baby" or tourist adoption. The Bill has nothing to do with that and, to its credit, supports the alternatives.
The excellent briefing from the Library contains one of those chilling expressions that one must re-read to ensure that one has understood it. It refers to "sender" nations. The tradition arose in some countries--typically Korea--of addressing child poverty and deprivation by exporting those problems. My hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, West (Valerie Davey) pointed out correctly that the problem of unwanted children would be solved only when the social infrastructures of such countries addressed those issues. Exporting children, and becoming known and defined as a "sender" country, is no way of addressing that problem or of even beginning to meet the needs of individual children. I repeat my praise of the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South and his comments on that subject.
This matter is not about choosing babies as the latest designer accessory or even about responding--perhaps understandably--to the intensely high emotion of a particular world crisis, be it Guatemalan street children or Kosovan refugees. It is about recognising that, in today's world, where communications systems are so widespread and so much faster and where family structures are changing and people are moving across the planet, anomalies will always occur. There will always be a need to adopt children who are not, but who are as close as, blood relatives. I can think of an Iranian family in my constituency who sought to adopt a child who had been brought up as part of their household, but was not a blood relative. When all the child's relatives died or disappeared and he was left alone in the world, it was utterly natural for him to turn to the family whom he knew best.
We cannot legislate for all the circumstances that will arise in a constantly shifting and changing world, but the hon. Member for Winchester has made an excellent job of producing a Bill that provides the basis for a far better, saner and more sensible way of operating.
We are dealing with individuals. We have heard that intercountry and intracountry adoptions may not be successful, but that is because of the nature of the individuals. To realise that, one has only to consider cases of famous people such as the Fashanu brothers. They came from the same background and were adopted and brought up in similar circumstances. One ended a tragic, lonely life with death at his own hand in a garage in the east end of London; the other is successful. At the end of the day, it is the individuals who count. The hon. Member for Winchester has recognised the importance of the family and of the individual.
I pay particular credit to the hon. Gentleman for clauses 3 to 8, which are important because they will amend the British Nationality Act 1981 to enable children adopted overseas under the convention to receive British citizenship automatically under certain conditions. As my colleagues have eloquently pointed out, the problem of dealing with entry clearance has often made impossible the logical pursuit of an adoption through what an hon. Member earlier described as the quagmire of the process. The problems attendant on adopting children and then having to deal with their nationality often put unacceptable strains on the family relationship and the children. I congratulate the hon. Member for Winchester
on correctly identifying the need to amend the British Nationality Act so that those children can eventually receive British citizenship.
Felicity Collier, the director of the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, has been quoted extensively, not least by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Thomas). The Library briefing contains a statement also from Gill Haworth, the chief executive of the overseas adoption helpline. One sentence in that statement should be shared with the House. Referring to prospective adopters who want a more regulated system, she says:
Mr. McNulty:
I thank my hon. Friend for his earlier, perhaps scurrilous, description of me. Does he agree that the only discordant note that has been sounded today is the notion that there should be a two-tier aspect to the home adoption and intercountry adoption systems? One of the Bill's strengths is that it eschews that notion and states that the same model and framework should be used for adoption at home as for intercountry adoption. That discordant note should be dismissed.
Mr. Pound:
I entirely concur with my hon. Friend, although I did not hear that discordant note. The assumption, even the suggestion, that there might be a duality or double standard is contemptible and unworthy of the House. I regret that such a statement was made, if it was--I cannot confirm that fact.
Mr. St. Aubyn:
I am sure that I speak for all Conservative Members in agreeing with the hon. Gentleman. None of us heard a discordant note. It must have sounded in the imagination of the hon. Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty).
Mr. Pound:
I did not hear it because I was not inthe Chamber when the hon. Member for Guildford (Mr. St. Aubyn) spoke.
In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East, let me say that northern countries should not affect superiority by adopting--le mot juste--a different standard in respect of Guatemalan street children. For us in the west to feel that we are doing so extraordinary a favour that the ordinary standards of decency that apply to fostering and adoption in our country should not apply is unacceptable. No hon. Member would make such an assertion. Anyone with half an ounce of wit or sense would regard that attitude as indefensible. It is even a pre-imperialist attitude.
I remarked on the breadth of the Bill. Its introduction of sanctions to deal with unacceptable practices in intercountry adoptions must not be underestimated. We all know of dramatic cases, some of which were mentioned today. The introduction of sanctions and a proper legal framework and the fact that we can move towards global ratification of the 1993 Hague convention are all measures that, when united, will be of great service to children and adopting families, but not to the criminal
and semi-criminal gangs of thugs who leech off human misery and squeeze profit from it. They will not thank the hon. Member for Winchester for introducing the Bill, but any decent-minded person will. I am happy to associate myself with it.
"They also want to know that the child who will eventually become a full member of their family truly needs them as parents--having been abandoned or fully relinquished for adoption. They do not wish to risk that they and the child have come together for life as a result of child trafficking or other irregularities which may, in time, threaten their security as a family."
The Bill is small and non-contentious, but it covers a vast range of human activity.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |