The Government’s divorce proposals would be disastrous for marriage. Ask your MP to oppose them
Sep 12, 2018
Until five years ago, marriage in this country had existed on the same basis for the best part of a thousand years. It was the union of a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others and for life.
In 2013 the Coalition Government passed the Same-Sex Marriage Act which abolished the first part of this definition.
Now this Conservative Government is proposing reforms to divorce law which would effectively end all expectation of marriages lasting for life.
Foolish and self-indulgent
Last week it was reported that the Government will soon propose introducing ‘no-fault’ divorce.
This would mean that any person would be able to end their marriage without having to offer any justification for their belief that it had irretrievably broken down.
As our Campaign Director told the Daily Mail, it is a damning indictment of this Government’s attitude towards marriage that its headline marriage policy is now to encourage and abet family breakdown by easing the path to divorce.
‘No fault’ divorce is really ‘no reason’ divorce. It undermines marriage by allowing anyone to walk away from their commitments with the full support of the state, despite lacking due cause.
Our research has shown that around 10,000 couples each year stop divorce proceedings before they are complete. Many of these saved marriages would be lost if all divorces were to proceed automatically.
As the columnist Tim Stanley wrote in Monday’s Telegraph:
The Tories are reducing marriage to a consumer choice – something you can buy or take back to the shop depending on your mood and circumstance. They are individualists. They believe in agency, autonomy, freedom and, as a pay-off, are willing to tolerate license, selfishness and irresponsibility.
Please act now
It is not too late to stop this unnecessary and foolhardy legislation going forward. We have asked all of our supporters to write to their MPs t0 ask them to stand against the introduction of ‘no-fault’ divorce.
They will be highlighting that:
- At least 10,000 marriages remain intact every year as divorces are abandoned, in part due to delays built into the current system;
- Vulnerable people will lose the protection of knowing that their spouse cannot immediately end the marriage with the support of the state because they get ill or lose their jobs;
- The state should be supporting personal responsibility by supporting those who want to stay true to their word and make their marriages work, not helping break them up.
We thank them, as ever, for all they do to support marriage.
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“I support defining marriage as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”