Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for an urgent investigation into the case of three children living with foster parents in Rotherham being taken away because of the couple's political alliance.
"Being a member of Ukip should not be a bar to adopting or fostering children. We need an urgent investigation by Rotherham Council into the circumstances of this case. I don't know all the facts of this case but I am clear, what matters is children in Rotherham and elsewhere, and being a member of a political party like Ukip should not be a bar to fostering children. We need to find out the facts and the council urgently needs to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.
The couple concerned are making extremely serious claims, very disturbing claims. Right-thinking people across the country will think there are thousands of children who need to be looked after, who need fostering, we shouldn't have the situation where membership of a party like Ukip excludes you from doing that. We need loving homes for children across the country. That can come in different forms, it's not about what political party you are a member of."
Education Secretary: "Council made wrong decision"
Education Secretary Michael Gove has said Rotherham Council's decision to take away three children from their foster home because their foster carers were members of UKIP was wrong.
"Rotherham's reasons for denying this family the chance to foster are indefensible. The ideology behind their decision is actively harmful to children. We should not allow considerations of ethnic or cultural background to prevent children being placed with loving and stable families. We need more parents to foster, and many more to adopt. Any council which decides that supporting a mainstream UK political party disbars an individual from looking after children in care is sending a dreadful signal that will only decrease the number of loving homes available to children in need."
Rotherham Council: UKIP support made couple unsuitable
Joyce Thacker, the Director for Children and Young People's Services at Rotherham Council says that UKIP's commitment to ending multiculturalism made a couple who supported the party unsuitable for fostering children with specific cultural needs. Click here to read more.
Rotherham Borough council has come under fire for breaking up a foster family because the parents were members of the UK Independence Party. Three children have been removed from the care of a married couple because social workers were concerned about their "cultural and ethnic needs."
The South Yorkshire foster parents claimed they had been told Ukip - which campaigns for British withdrawal from the European Union and tougher controls on immigration - was "racist".
The actions of the Labour controlled Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council were met with fury from UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who called for resignations over what he said was an "appalling" decision. Labour urged the council to mount an urgent investigation.
A couple from South Yorkshire have had their three foster children taken away by the council on the grounds that they belong to the UK Independence Party, according to a national newspaper. Rotherham Council say they are reviewing the couples suitability.
East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer has announced he's leaving the Conservative Party and joining the United Kingdom Independence Party. Helmer who's been a Conservative MEP since 1999 made the announcement at UKIP’s Spring Conference in Skegness.
UKIP outlines how it can become the third force in British politics
UKIP will outline how it intends to become the third force in British politics today at its 2012 Spring Conference at the Embassy Theatre in Skegness. Among the speakers will be former Chief Inspector of Schools, Chris Woodhead, who will deliver a speech about the state of today's education system,
