A father whose daughter was taken from him by social services, but was later reunited after fighting for her in court, has uploaded a Facebook video calling for an investigation into forced adoption. 

The Facebook live video showed the father protesting outside council offices in Grays. The video attracted an astounding 25,000 views.

So who was behind the footage?

Dad, Jack Barnes, who calls himself a child rights campaigner and goes by the hashtag #scousemegaphoneman, a nod to his own personal brand of campaigning in which he uses a megaphone to amplify his protests.

Jack’s daughter was taken away from him by social services at Thurrock Council in 2012. After an intense ten months in court fighting for her return, he was eventually reunited with his daughter and is now campaigning for Thurrock Council to reform its social services department.

Keen to look at the problems within social work on a nationwide scale, Jack also hopes to encourage the sector to amplify the voice of the child in all care proceedings so that their wishes and feelings are properly set down, and heard.

Jack, and his signature red cap will be campaigning again outside Thurrock’s Civic Offices during National Adoption Week.