Baby P case has stigmatised Haringey for a generation

Published: 10:29 AM November 21, 2008 Updated: 10:46 AM February 20, 2021

I WINCE every time I hear or read about Baby P and Haringey. This borough is now stigmatised for at least a generation. The lone social worker who put the welfare of children before her career and warned four government ministers (including David Lammy) d

I WINCE every time I hear or read about Baby P and Haringey. This borough is now stigmatised for at least a generation.

The lone social worker who put the welfare of children before her career and warned four government ministers (including David Lammy) deserves all our praise. But the 60-odd headteachers who signed a joint statement in support of Sharon Shoesmith have heaped additional shame on Haringey residents, insulted the memory of Baby P, and exposed Haringey's deeply ingrained institutionalised cronyism to the whole world.

Questions such as who wrote the statement and who sent it by email around Haringey's schools need to be answered.

And whose bright idea was it to send it to the national media?

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It is not about how "nice" or "effective" Sharon Shoesmith is, it's about the horrific death of a defenceless child who was killed on her watch. She must resign. When Victoria Climbie was killed and the then senior managers kept their jobs, it sent out all the wrong signals and undermined the notion of personal responsibility.

MARIO PETROU