John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley and chair of the Justice for Families campaign group, told a BBC Panorama programme - to be broadcast tonight - that parents should go abroad if they want to keep their children, because the court system has become “unfair”.
But Cathy Ashley, chief executive of the Family Rights Group charity, described Hemming’s advice as “crass, ignorant and potentially dangerous”.
“It could seriously backfire on any parent who follows it,” she said. “It could put a child at risk in serious danger.
“There is plenty of evidence that the most important factor in safeguarding a child who is deemed at risk, is an open working relationship between the family and social workers.
“Lack of co-operation is likely to result in the local authority seeking to apply for a care order.
“Parents need to understand their rights, have access to specialist expert advice and the ability to constructively challenge social workers.
“John Hemming’s encouragement of them to flee is the antithesis of helpful advice to parents in such circumstances.”
The number of applications for children to be taken into care has risen significantly since the case of Baby Peter Connelly in 2008.
Between April and November last year, 7,080 applications for children to be taken into care were made to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).
Hemming told Panorama that once the process begins, “all the cards are held by the local authority”.
“It has large resources to fight the cases – it does all the assessments,” he said. “My advice to people – if they can afford it – is just to go abroad.
"You can’t get a fair trial here, because you can’t rely on the evidence being fair. It’s best simply to go if you can, at the right time, lawfully.”
Ashley said that in the great majority of cases that go through the family courts, the children remain with their parents.
Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass, said there was a need to build public confidence in the family courts by making them better, and more transparent.
But he added that the rise in care applications meant more children are being protected.
Andy Elvin, chief executive of Children and Families Across Borders, a charity that identifies and protects children separated from family members due to trafficking, abduction, migration, divorce, and asylum, said there was a 150 per cent increase in cases of families fleeing UK child protection procedures by travelling overseas during 2013.
"Fleeing leaves children in a very vulnerable position - they may be at significant risk because of the very factors that led to the court proceedings to start with, in fact there have been cases where children have been killed by parents who have fled abroad to evade UK child protection and criminal procedures," he said.
"Even the act of fleeing itself adds considerable risk - instantly the children’s routine, education, social networks and health support will be lost.
"It is very hard to see how this is in the best interests of these children."
