Adoption decisions in England: $\textit{Re B (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Appeal)}$ and beyond

In $\textit{Re B (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Appeal)}$ [2013] UKSC 33 the Supreme Court President emphasised that ‘adoption of a child against her parents’ wishes should only be contemplated as a last resort – when all else fails’ because of adoption’s draconian nature. $\textit{Re B}$ has been cited dozens of times by the lower courts in the short time since it was decided. The aim of this article is to assess whether the influence of $\textit{Re B}$ is a matter of substance or mere rhetoric.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2015.112196