Ukip fostering row: parents being used for 'political gain', council claims Rotherham council has failed to apologise to the couple and refused to release the findings of an internal report into the case. A senior member of the council said yesterday: "I think this couple have been used by the leadership of their party for political gain. They have a by-election in Rotherham. You would think someone would complain to the council if there was something they didn't agree with. The couple said that they had been left with little choice but to go public and challenge the "slur against their name." The first child was taken on Nov 13 and the other two on Nov 16. The couple insist they were meeting the children's cultural needs by learning their language and even singing their folk songs. Social workers said their membership of Ukip meant that the children had to be taken away. Joyce Thacker, the council's director of children and young people's services, said at the weekend: "These children are not UK children and we were not aware of the foster parents having strong political views. There are some strong views in the Ukip party and we have to think of the future of the children. Roger Stone, the council's Labour leader, said: "This remains a very complex case." The by-election was called after Denis MacShane, the former Labour MP, was forced to stand down for fiddling his expenses. Labour has a 10,000 majority and is expected to win.