How do you know when the state becomes authoritarian?

When this sort of thing happens.

Social services have removed two young children from the care of their grandparents and arranged for them to be adopted by a homosexual couple.

They were allegedly stripped of their carer's rights and informed they would be barred from seeing the children altogether unless they agreed to the same-sex adoption.

The children have been in foster care for two years while their grandparents battled the social services department in court.

However, the cost of legal bills forced them to drop the case and relinquish their rights.

The grandparents reluctantly agreed to adoption, provided the children were found a "loving mother and father".

They were told last Thursday that two homosexual men had been chosen as the adoptive parents.

When he protested to social workers, the grandfather alleges he was told: "You can either accept it and there's a chance you'll see the children twice a year, or you can take that stance and never see them again."

There are still people in Britain who will tell you that becoming an authoritarian state "couldn't happen here". They are wrong - it already has.