Fri
17th
Family Affairs
Published by: Christian Guy on Friday 17th July 2009 11:07am
Nick Clegg’s recent misrepresentation of Conservative proposals to strengthen families and recognise the uniqueness of marriage, adopted from Breakthrough Britain, was little more than political point scoring.
He denied that Britain was broken; he accused David Cameron of being obsessed with ‘cajoling people to conform to a single view of what a happy couple should look like’; and he dismissed CSJ family policies as ‘bizarre and patronising’.
Yet Every Family Matters, building on Breakthrough Britain and our early intervention work, calls for a move away from such outdated politics of left and right on marriage and family - instead looking at ‘what works’ for society.
Based on evidence, we call for greater utilisation of marriage preparation courses; community support and guidance for families through new Family Relationship Hubs; a cooling off period before divorce proceedings are initiated; mandatory mediation in children matters; and valuation of the uniqueness of marriage in the tax and benefits system.
It is time to recognise that healthy marriages build healthy families, and healthy families build a healthy society. Reversing social breakdown starts there.
You can read what Nick Clegg MP said here
And read what Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP (Chairman of the CSJ) has to say on the matter here
Mon
9th
Our prisons have a fatalistic tolerance of drugs
Published by: Christian Guy on Monday 9th February 2009 02:05pm
Dame Anne Owers, publishing her seventh prison inspection report at the end of last month, fired warning shots about almost every aspect of our prison system. Her findings, alarming but recurrent, once again expose the inadequacies of prison policy. The stark conclusion that government continues to fail to tackle drugs in prison is one of the most concerning.
The prison drugs trade, valued at a staggering annual £100 million by the former head of treatment policy at NOMS, is rife. So deeply saturated is the system that prisoners, such as a recent recovering heroin addict, are desperately attempting to flee custody and avoid their inevitable relapse.
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