Gove wades into 'Ukip foster' row after children removed from family who are party members Michael Gove said social workers at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council had made "the wrong decision in the wrong way for the wrong reasons" and that he would be personally investigating and exploring steps to "deal with" the situation. The council's decision was met with fury from Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who called for resignations over what he said was an "appalling" decision. Mr Gove, who heads the Government department responsible for children's services and who was himself adopted as a child, accused Rotherham of sending out a "dreadful signal." Rotherham council have made the wrong decision in the wrong way for the wrong reasons. Rotherham's reasons for denying this family the chance to foster are indefensible," he said. The ideology behind their decision is actively harmful to children. We should not allow considerations of ethnic or cultural background to prevent children being placed with loving and stable families. We need more parents to foster, and many more to adopt. Any council which decides that supporting a mainstream UK political party disbars an individual from looking after children in care is sending a dreadful signal that will only decrease the number of loving homes available to children in need. I will be investigating just how this decision came to be made and what steps we need to take to deal with this situation. Joyce Thacker, strategic director of children and young people's services at Rotherham council, said the three ethnic minority children had been placed with the couple as an emergency and it was never going to be a long-term arrangement. Asked what the specific problem was with the couple being Ukip members, Mrs Thacker told BBC Breakfast: "We have to think about the clear statements on ending multi-culturalism for example. These children are from EU migrant backgrounds and Ukip has very clear statements on ending multiculturalism, not having that going forward, and I have to think about how sensitive I am being to those children. She added that there was no issue about the quality of care the couple provided and said she would co-operate with any investigation. Labour leader Ed Miliband called for an urgent investigation into the case. Speaking in Middlesbrough ahead of Thursday's by-election, he said: "Being a member of Ukip should not be a bar to adopting or fostering children. We need an urgent investigation by Rotherham Council into the circumstances of this case. I don't know all the facts of this case but I am clear, what matters is children in Rotherham and elsewhere, and being a member of a political party like Ukip should not be a bar to fostering children. We need to find out the facts and the council urgently needs to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. The couple concerned are making extremely serious claims, very disturbing claims. Right-thinking people across the country will think there are thousands of children who need to be looked after, who need fostering, we shouldn't have the situation where membership of a party like Ukip excludes you from doing that. We need loving homes for children across the country. That can come in different forms, it's not about what political party you are a member of. Former Conservative party chairman David Davis added his voice to those condemning the council's move. "This is an outrageous decision by the council," he said. It shows an astonishing view of what is proper in a democratic society and a perverse idea of what is in the best interests of the children in care. Not only should the Government institute an inquiry into the behaviour of this council it should also lay down clear guidelines so that no other council in the country ever makes such a disgraceful decision again.