Britain is facing a broken families ‘crisis’ and ministers are afraid of talking about marriage, Iain Duncan Smith has said.
The former Work and Pensions Secretary said the Government should challenge the view – widely held by the middle classes – that marriage was a ‘lifestyle choice’.
He argued that the country needed a marriage ‘revolution’ and called for tax cuts for couples who tie the knot and an end to the ‘couple penalty’ for low-income families in the tax and benefit system.
Britain is facing a broken families ‘crisis’ and ministers are afraid of talking about marriage, Iain Duncan Smith has said
Mr Duncan Smith, a long-standing campaigner against family breakdown, said boys were learning their approach to sex and relationships from internet pornography, which in turn is damaging the self-worth of girls.
‘People join golf clubs and they sign up to the most absurd things. They will sign contracts on housing and never question them. And on the most important relationship in our lives, which will damage or make us, the middle class sit there and tell us this is a lifestyle choice, we shouldn’t ever tell people that it really matters that you write it down on a piece of paper.
‘It commits you to what you are about to do for the rest of your life. Out there these boys particularly who never learn the concept of what this is about will find the alternative on the internet. The alternative is about abusive sex and low value for women. That’s why there is such a collapse of self-worth among young girls, because they see themselves as objects.’
He argued that cohabitation is a ‘very different relationship from marriage’ and ‘inherently unstable’. ‘The level of break-up is staggeringly high compared to marriage, and for the most part, these relationships break up upon arrival of a child.’
He went on: ‘The answer I think is because co-habitation suits one of the partners more than the other. Almost invariably it suits the man, because they have to make good on their commitment and when that commitment is facing them they then withdraw. In marriage, having made that commitment, the child becomes a focus for your responsibility and you commit more. They commit automatically once the child arrives.’
His comments came at a Centre for Social Justice fringe event at the Conservative Party conference. Sir Paul Coleridge, a former high court judge and chairman of the Marriage Foundation, argued it was ‘atrocious’ that family breakdown had been relegated to a fringe issue.
He said: ‘Watching this river of human misery gather momentum over four decades woke even me up. Watching people come into the courts day after day with the same problems, the same damaged children and relationships, forced me to ask the question: what are we doing?’
He also argued that marriage should be rewarded through the tax system. Unmarried men were more likely to die earlier, have health problems and get into debt, he said, adding: ‘It’s not a moral crusade, it is a public health campaign.’ He said: ‘The problem is that there is a view out there, borne of ignorance I’m afraid, that all co-habiting relationships are of equal worth, of equal value, of equal stability. I’m afraid they are not.’
Meanwhile, more than six out of ten Tory councillors think party leaders spend too much time on politically correct concerns. And nearly nine out of ten want more energy expended on the economy and Brexit, a poll found.
The survey of 550 local politicians was conducted by ComRes for the Coalition for Marriage pressure group.
Johnson Jr tells students: Just be frugal
Universities minister Jo Johnson has advised students facing high living costs simply to live frugally.
Boris Johnson’s younger brother said it should not always be up to parents to supplement loans and students should spend less.
In comments likely to be seen as unhelpful as the party tries to reach out to the young, Mr Johnson acknowledged there may be a gap between loans provided and the cost of university.
Universities minister Jo Johnson has advised students facing high living costs simply to live frugally
‘That does not necessarily mean it’s a gap that has to be filled by parental contributions,’ he said.
‘There are many other ways in which students could fill that gap. They can work, as many, many students do.
‘They can also save and then of course they can borrow from their parents if they wish, but it isn’t necessarily a parental contribution.’
He continued: ‘What is also so important to bear in mind is that students have many different choices about the kind of lifestyle they want at university.
‘Some students want to live very modestly and have a frugal existence, focusing on their studies.
‘Other students may want a different lifestyle but there isn’t one cost of going to university – it’s a very specific choice that each individual will make.’
The minister was taking part in a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Tuesday with consumer finance expert Martin Lewis.
The National Union of Students vice-president Amatey Doku said Mr Johnson was out of touch with student finances.
Priti cracks down on aid barons
Firms getting rich from the foreign aid budget will be stripped of contracts if they are found to be ripping off taxpayers, Priti Patel pledged yesterday.
The International Development Secretary ordered a clampdown to ‘root out unethical’ middle-men creaming off huge profits as they help distribute the £13billion aid pot.
Miss Patel unveiled plans that would give aid officials the power to check the books of suppliers, with the ability to terminate contracts.
Firms getting rich from the foreign aid budget will be stripped of contracts if they are found to be ripping off taxpayers, Priti Patel pledged yesterday
MPs warned in April that firms working for the aid department were making large sums by exaggerating their staffing costs when billing the Government.
Miss Patel said she wanted to end the ‘crony market’ and promised to reduce red tape to increase competition. She said the public was ‘right to be angry when they hear stories about wasted aid’ and spoke of how her department had axed wasteful programmes.
These included a £5million project involving Ethiopia’s Spice Girls which was scrapped after it was highlighted by the Daily Mail in December.