Families are becoming a hot political topic, not before time, but I still find it difficult to raise too much enthusiasm.
Like so many times, the most recent rhetoric from both the Tories and Labour paints great big banner headlines but reveals little of the detail. According to reports, Labour will this week pledge support for families and parents going through separation and relationship breakdown. Very noble, but what will they actually do and how will this help?
David Cameron, for his part, has undertaken to reward marriage in the tax system, presumably to bribe families to do more to stay together in an exercise branded “social engineering” in some quarters.
The Families Green Paper from Government focuses squarely on helping families who are going through a transition. Would it not be better to invest the time and money helping those who are close to divorce in a bid to pull them back from the brink, rather than being nice and cuddly once a situation has become unliveable?
It appears the Government is continuing its crusade to end marriage altogether (See here). With an election only months away, surely this cannot be a winning policy.
Andrew Woolley
Family law solicitor