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Cameron seeks to support families Families 'key to poverty fight'
(1 day later)
Conservative leader David Cameron has said families are the "ultimate source of our society's strength or weakness". Tory leader David Cameron has said his party must do more to keep families together, as a report suggests parental splits are creating an underclass.
He said his party must "look at ways of supporting families and also supporting marriage so that couples are encouraged to get together and stay together". Couples should be "encouraged to get together and stay together" - possibly with the help of changes to taxation to support marriage, Mr Cameron said.
The UK would be better off with more marriages and fewer divorces, he added. Iain Duncan Smith's report for the Tories on poverty, found family splits caused social problems costing £20bn.
Mr Cameron was responding to Iain Duncan Smith's Tory policy group's finding that family breakdowns cause social problems costing £20bn a year. An underclass was being "left behind" by the rest of society, he warned.
What we want is people bringing up children in a stable environment with two parents Iain Duncan Smith Hutton rejects family tax plan Politics Show: Duncan Smith Some ships will never float - they've got a hole in them Iain Duncan Smith Hutton rejects family tax plan Politics Show: Duncan Smith
Launching the Breakdown Britain report in central London today, Mr Duncan Smith said some of the issues raised might cause party colleagues to "swallow hard".
But he insisted governments could no longer rely on the "small ships being lifted on the rising tide" theory, which suggests the poorest in society have their situation improved by increases in overall wealth.
"Some ships will never float - they've got a hole in them," he added.
'Family stability'
Mr Duncan Smith said the prison population had spiralled in the last 15 years.
Typical inmates were young men, three quarters had a drug or alcohol problem and 60% came from broken homes.
Most had the educational level of a 10 or 11-year-old.
Mr Cameron said the report "demonstrates clearly the links that exist between social breakdown, family breakdown, educational failure, indebtedness and drug and alcohol abuse".Mr Cameron said the report "demonstrates clearly the links that exist between social breakdown, family breakdown, educational failure, indebtedness and drug and alcohol abuse".
Mr Cameron added: "Families matter because almost every social problem that we face comes down to family stability. He added: "Families matter because almost every social problem that we face comes down to family stability.
"If marriage rates went up, if divorce rates came down - if more couples stayed together for longer, would our society be better off? My answer is yes." "If marriage rates went up, if divorce rates came down, if more couples stayed together for longer, would our society be better off? My answer is yes."
'Undermined''Undermined'
Mr Cameron repeated his party conference speech pledge to test every Conservative policy on whether it helps families. Mr Duncan Smith rejected criticism for telling the Sunday Telegraph that same-sex couples were "irrelevant" to his work on shaping Conservative policy.
During his conference speech he also said that when he referred to marriages being "special" he included same sex couples joined in a civil partnership. He told the BBC that he had not been making a value judgement, but merely reflecting the fact so few children were raised by gay couples.
Mr Cameron's welcome of the policy group's report came as Mr Duncan Smith rejected criticism for telling the Sunday Telegraph that same-sex couples were "irrelevant" to his work on shaping future Conservative policy on tackling family breakdowns. HAVE YOUR SAY I have worked with children and those who are with happily married parents are themselves happier and calmer Rosalind Mercer, Bedford href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=4947&edition=1&ttl=20061211094856" class="">Send us your comments
Mr Duncan Smith: Labour has undermined marriage
He told the BBC that he had not been making a value judgement on gay couples, merely reflecting the fact so few children were raised by gay couples.
Stability and structure was vital, he said, so "if they are bringing them up well, well done and good luck to them".Stability and structure was vital, he said, so "if they are bringing them up well, well done and good luck to them".
Mr Duncan Smith told the Politics Show his group had found that, while divorce had remained steady in recent years, there had been a large rise in the numbers of cohabiting parents who split up. Mr Duncan Smith said marriage had been undermined by the tax and benefits system under the current government.
"What we want is people bringing up children in a stable environment with two parents," he said, adding that heterosexual couples "are clearly the issue here" as they are raising by far the majority of children in the UK. Mr Cameron told the Daily Mail he believed marriage should be supported through the tax system, such as through transferable allowances.
'Through the roof' He has previously also indicated he favoured similar tax allowances for same sex couples in civil partnerships if they have children.
Mr Duncan Smith said marriage had been undermined by the tax and benefits system under the current Labour government. Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said it sounded like the Conservatives were going "back to basics again" - as in the mid 1990s - and talking about Victorian values.
He said the current report was about finding out what the problems were and what had gone wrong - not to lecture people to get married - but to help couples, married and unmarried, to stabilise their relationships.
Pressed on the Politics Show about policies, Mr Duncan Smith said they would now look in detail at the issue of policy to tackle the problems identified.
But for Labour, the work and pensions secretary John Hutton said it sounded like the Conservatives were going "back to basics again" and talking about Victorian values.
He said it was "nonsense" to suggest that tweaking the tax system could lead to families staying together, saying that had been tried in past decades which saw divorce rates "go through the roof".He said it was "nonsense" to suggest that tweaking the tax system could lead to families staying together, saying that had been tried in past decades which saw divorce rates "go through the roof".