ASHYA KING : A SHOCKING STORY.

The grotesque reaction of assorted authorities to parents deciding to take their child out of hospital has been a 'wake-up' call to the whole of the UK's population.

Brett and Naghmeh King made a perfectly reasonable and logical decision to remove their son, Ashya, from Southampton General Hospital in order to take him abroad for medical treatment not available in this country. In doing this, they did nothing wrong or illegal; their son was their responsibility and was not under the care of Social Services or the courts.

The appalling reaction of the NHS, Hampshire police and the local council was to seek, and be granted, an emergency court order and launch a Europe-wide hunt for the family under cover of a 'European Arrest Warrant'. Brett, Naghmeh and their children were found in Spain; the parents were arrested and imprisoned; Ashya was taken away from them and placed in a Spanish hospital, while his siblings were held elsewhere. All of this effectively because a mish-mash of officials and 'experts' in England disliked having their authority and expertise challenged.

Thankfully, this shocking state of affairs lasted for only a few days before order was restored. The arrest warrant has now been rescinded and the family reunited. Senior figures in various English institutions will now face serious questions and, with any luck, some will lose their jobs; there can be no doubt that they deserve to.

One wonders whether this will turn out to have been an isolated incident or presages a major change in the relationship between state and people. Who is it that has presumed authority over our children - is it the parents or the state ? If parents refuse the advice of the hordes of self-proclaimed 'professionals' and 'experts' who infest our world, will they find themselves pursued and imprisoned as with the King family ? Is it now mandatory to accept the advice of those whom the state employs ?

It is time for the people of this country to cry "Enough !" If we do not, we will be forever subservient to those who lie, cheat and bribe their way to positions of power and authority over us and then claim levels of knowledge and understanding which the rest of us supposedly lack. Freedom will be a mere memory, something to tell the grandchildren stories about but that, like the Dodo, no longer exists.