Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
LONDON, UK (ANS) -- As Parliament reconvenes over the recent violence in the United Kingdom, a Christian social policy group is calling on British Prime Minister David Cameron to re-engage with the 'broken society' agenda.
According to www.ChristianToday.com , the group wants to see the Prime Minister put special emphasis on tackling family breakdown and the "crisis of fatherlessness."
The website says CARE's director of parliamentary affairs, Dan Boucher, said it was unlikely that there was a single explanation for the riots, but added that a "key element" in the mix was the place of the family and the role of fathers.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron |
"When in opposition, David Cameron spoke at great length about the 'broken society' and about how a Conservative government would 'fix broken Britain'," he said.
"He was very clear that one of the key drivers of the broken Britain phenomenon was family breakdown and fatherlessness, and interestingly polling demonstrates that this resonated far more effectively with the public than his subsequent focus on the Big Society ever has," said Boucher.
The online article says the charity echoed the concerns of others at the sight of children being among the rioters and looters, saying that it raised questions about the kind of family life children in Britain were experiencing today.
"The sad fact is that without a functional family, children and young people will be more vulnerable to the appeal of the surrogate family of the gang which is well able to provide an alternative, and deeply destructive sense of identity, belonging and purpose," said Boucher.
The article says CARE chief executive Nola Leach expressed disappointment that Cameron had not got to grips with fixing broken Britain since coming to Downing Street in the last election.
Leach called upon the Prime Minister to do more to recognize marriage in the tax system.
"The figures, as the Prime Minister knows, are very striking, especially in the context of the riots," she said.
"A child born to cohabiting parents has a nearly one in two chance of living in a one parent home by the time they reach their fifth birthday, whilst a child born to married parents has only a one in twelve chance of finding themselves in this situation."
Leach added: "The Prime Minister must now take action and make recognizing marriage in the tax system and investing much more in the single biggest determinant of the quality of parenting, the relationship between the parents, via marriage support, his number one priority for the coming year."
The website says Cameron is expected to outline more measures in response to the recent violence during today's emergency debate in parliament on the disorder.
The article explained that in some parts of the country, magistrates have been in session throughout the night to deal with the backlog of people arrested in connection with the looting and vandalism.
| ** Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Ne wswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter |  |
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