Don’t let the right own family matters – Christian Socialist Movement

Labour should talk more about families and marriage – but keep policy focused on family stability and tackling child poverty, say members of the Christian Socialist Movement. The Tory focus on a marriage tax allowance is misguided, they argue, because it would not treat people fairly.

by Tribune Web Editor
Thursday, January 14th, 2010

by Keith Richmond

Labour should talk more about families and marriage – but keep policy focused on family stability and tackling child poverty, say members of the Christian Socialist Movement. The Tory focus on a marriage tax allowance is misguided, they argue, because it would not treat people fairly.

CSM director Andy Flannagan said: “It is too easy for what should be the building block of our society to become, instead, a political football. These issues are always sensitive, but we need to debate such important issues as they are so essential to the cohesion of our society.”

And CSM member Stephen Beer said: “Labour cannot afford to let the right own the concept of the family, when it is something so important to all of us. Labour has a good record, but we need to be more relaxed when talking about the family, including talking about marriage. It is possible to have an inclusive approach that does not stigmatise people, by focusing on family stability.

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About The Author

  • Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

    I’m fed up with people describing everything that happens, or doesn’t happen as an “issue”. That’s what’s the problem in our so-called society, in my view, and that’s why people don’t want to get roped into any unnecessary or inappropriate contracts. Family stability and social cohesion here in the UK obviously don’t depend on marriage contracts in practice because less people are getting married – Of course religious or old-fashioned organisations may have a vested interest in traditional “households” – much as farmers might be interested in “smallholdings” -but nowadays individuality is key and so are women.

    In my view all systems, whether modern or old-fashioned, together with their administrative values and management targeting tactics ought to get their own houses in order first. We must have better governance of the firm – even globally so these can better recognise and cope with modern families in all our weird and wonderful shapes and forms. This is because individual people are the “building blocks of society”, whatever contract we may or may not have and this is not an issue but a real concern by which we should between us be able to work out better governance of the commons.

  • Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

    I’m fed up with people describing everything that happens, or doesn’t happen as an “issue”. That’s what’s the problem in our so-called society, in my view, and that’s why people don’t want to get roped into any unnecessary or inappropriate contracts. Family stability and social cohesion here in the UK obviously don’t depend on marriage contracts in practice because less people are getting married – Of course religious or old-fashioned organisations may have a vested interest in traditional “households” – much as farmers might be interested in “smallholdings” -but nowadays individuality is key and so are women.

    In my view all systems, whether modern or old-fashioned, together with their administrative values and management targeting tactics ought to get their own houses in order first. We must have better governance of the firm – even globally so these can better recognise and cope with modern families in all our weird and wonderful shapes and forms. This is because individual people are the “building blocks of society”, whatever contract we may or may not have and this is not an issue but a real concern by which we should between us be able to work out better governance of the commons.

  • Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

    I’m fed up with people describing everything that happens, or doesn’t happen as an “issue”. That’s what’s the problem in our so-called society, in my view, and that’s why people don’t want to get roped into any unnecessary or inappropriate contracts. Family stability and social cohesion here in the UK obviously don’t depend on marriage contracts in practice because less people are getting married – Of course religious or old-fashioned organisations may have a vested interest in traditional “households” – much as farmers might be interested in “smallholdings” -but nowadays individuality is key and so are women.

    In my view all systems, whether modern or old-fashioned, together with their administrative values and management targeting tactics ought to get their own houses in order first. We must have better governance of the firm – even globally so these can better recognise and cope with modern families in all our weird and wonderful shapes and forms. This is because individual people are the “building blocks of society”, whatever contract we may or may not have and this is not an issue but a real concern by which we should between us be able to work out better governance of the commons.