Shadow Children’s Minister Emma Lewell-Buck has resigned over the Labour Party’s position on Brexit.

The social work sector has reacted with disappointment to Lewell-Buck’s resignation. Community Care commented on the departure this morning saying that Lewell-Buck, who was a former social worker, had “left government education ministers and Labour’s shadow ministers without a social worker influence. ”

Emma was a vocal critic of the government’s austerity measures and the budget cuts that followed in children’s social care. She also criticised Parliamentary Under Secretary Nadhim Zahawi for a lack of concern as to how the government’s policies were affecting children.

Simon Buck, Emma’s husband, made the headlines last year after it was revealed that he had been investigated over allegations of abuse while carrying out his duties as a care worker. Council chiefs called Ms Buck’s husband a “perpetrator of elder abuse”
after an ombudsman’s ruling found Mr Buck guilty of abusing an elderly man in his care. The council paid Mr Buck £400 in compensation after a watchdog found that the local authority had also made procedural errors.

Allegations about Mr Buck’s conduct were raised by the elderly man’s wife, who said Mr Buck swore at her husband and neglected him. Further allegations were raised by a whistleblower, who said that Mr Buck swore at vulnerable people and their families, used homophobic language, inappropriately referred to a colleague about the mental state of a vulnerable person and missed care calls.

Emma Buck attended the debate on children’s social care in January which was kept  from the public despite being an open event. No MPs or attendees taking part in the debate mentioned the event before it took place.