Watch as the Baby P case gets kicked into the long grass.

With a petition calling for all those involved in the Baby P case to sacked now attracting over half a million signatures Parliament has been forced to change it's tactics and try harder to cover the tracks of those involved.

For those of you still unfamiliar with the case Baby P was and infant who over the course of his short life was constantly beaten and tortured by his mother and step-father under the approving gaze of Haringey council's social services department. Haringey is a north London borough which probably most famous as the location of the infamous Finsbury Park Mosque where radical cleric Abu Hamza preached his extreme version of Islam and the massive MI5 surveillance operation that went along with it.

With Haringey council again becoming involved in yet another high profile scandal National Government appears to be unsure how to deal with the situation. Initially when the Baby P case went to trial they saw an opportunity for a jolly jape where the details of the horrific crime could be used to score points off political opponents and stimulate a wider discussion on social care. Then when it became clear that things weren't going to go according to their plan they changed their minds and the Minister for Children, under some pressure, called for a two week investigation into the case which would allow everybody to get the anger out of their system while Haringey council issues some empty apologises and everybody could carry on much the same as before without anyone being held accountable or anything actually changing.

Today the government has again changed it's mind with the minister announcing that he is going to pre-empt the findings of the investigation not due to report until December 1st and hold an investigation to be chaired by Lord Layman. The last time Lord Layman held an investigation into the death of a child under the care of Social Services it was into the death of Victoria Climbie in the London Borough of Haringey. This process took two years to complete and concluded that no individual should be held responsible for their but it did make 108 separate recommendations for improvement. According to their last inspection Haringey council have already implemented every one of those recommendations.

I think a lengthy public inquiry is very much the wrong approach for the government to take because Baby P's mother and step-father have already been tried and convicted for the criminal offence of causing or allowing his death. I can see no good reason that prevents every member of Haringey council who have played a part in the case, especially those who blocked attempts to have Baby P taken into care, being criminally investigated and tried for that same offence.

On a completely unrelated note the Disasters Emergency Committee have chosen today to launch their appeal to help all the children who have been beaten and tortured in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This nasty war has been going on for around 12 years now and has it's roots in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 which itself has it's roots in the cold war. The severity of the situation there and in other African nations means that I cannot in good conscience tell people not to donate to this appeal but I personally cannot support it because I have serious doubts over the integrity of two of the charities involved. Besides if Britain is serious about ending the suffering of children and preventing crimes against humanity it should perhaps get it's own house in order.