Labour: how we're learning to love the nuclear family

By LUKE COPPEN
THE GOvERNMENT'S Green Paper on the family marks a sea-change in State thinking on marriage. family groups told The Catholic Herald this week.
The discussion paper, Supporting Fanzilies. launched on Wednesday by Home Secretary Jack Straw, is the first Green Paper to focus exclusively on family issues. It invites family charities and professionals to suggest how new Labour can achieve its manifesto pledge to strengthen family life.
Ceridwen Roberts, director of the Family Policy Studie, Group, said the new paper reflected a new. positive attitude towards marriage. "There has been a sea-change," she said. "They are making very clear signals that the best start for a child is for them to live with both their parents.
"Now they use the word marriage. A year ago they didn t use it. That's quite a shift.
"I don't think a goverritnen can say that people must stay married. But they've got quite a subtle way to go to provide more resources for marriage support agencies like Marriage Care and Relate."
Julia Cole of Relate said: "We would want to see special support for marriage so that people see it not as a restrictive bond in which you lose your rights, but as a stable base for relationships and bringing up children."
Catholic marriage support groups were more cautious in their assessment of the Green Paper.
Eileen McCabe. deputy executive of Marriage Care, largely welcomed the initiative. But she added: "There is a lot to be done in practical ways to supportl marriage."
Valerie Riches, director of Family and Youth Concern, said: "For years we've listened to this wonderful talk about the need to do something for the family, but not the married "It will evoke a lot of discussion, but I regret to say from past experience in the end nothing will happen.
"Let's hope they listen to the pro-family organisations."
On Sunday Home Office Minister Paul Boateng appeared to have gaffed when he told the BBC1's On The Record programme that he believed single parents and homosexuals should enjoy the same status as married couples.
He later qualified his remarks, saying that the Government wanted to encourage all stable relationships.
William Oddie and Mary Kenny—p8