If Fyodor Dostoyevsky was right that a country that fails to treat its prisoners well should be judged harshly, then how much harsher should the judgement be for a nation that is failing to care for its children? This is far from being a hypothetical question for the UK today.

Britain can be proud of the fact that it has developed a legal and professional practice infrastructure that allows abused, neglected and troubled children to be cared for. But it is time to acknowledge that this infrastructure is under enormous stress and the risks to our nation's most vulnerable children are growing rapidly and unnecessarily.