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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Cameron seeks to support families | Cameron seeks to support families |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Conservative leader David Cameron has said families are the "ultimate source of our society's strength or weakness". | Conservative leader David Cameron has said families are the "ultimate source of our society's strength or weakness". |
| 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". | 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". |
| The UK would be better off with more marriages and fewer divorces, he added. | The UK would be better off with more marriages and fewer divorces, he added. |
| Mr Cameron was responding to Iain Duncan Smith's Tory policy group's finding that family breakdowns cause social problems costing £20bn a year. | Mr Cameron was responding to Iain Duncan Smith's Tory policy group's finding that family breakdowns cause social problems costing £20bn a year. |
| 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 | 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 |
| 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. | Mr Cameron 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 Cameron repeated his party conference speech pledge to test every Conservative policy on whether it helps families. |
| HAVE YOUR SAY I have worked with children and those who are with happily married parents are themselves happier and calmer Rosalind Mercer, Bedford Send us your comments 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. | HAVE YOUR SAY I have worked with children and those who are with happily married parents are themselves happier and calmer Rosalind Mercer, Bedford Send us your comments 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Mr Duncan Smith: Labour has undermined marriageStability and structure was vital, he said, so "if they are bringing them up well, well done and good luck to them". | Mr Duncan Smith: Labour has undermined marriageStability 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 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. |
| "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. | "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. |
| 'Through the roof' | 'Through the roof' |
| Mr Duncan Smith said marriage had been undermined by the tax and benefits system under the current Labour government. | Mr Duncan Smith said marriage had been undermined by the tax and benefits system under the current Labour government. |
| 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. | 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. | 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. |
| However Mr Cameron told the Daily Mail he believed marriage should be supported through the tax system, such as through transferable allowances. | |
| Although he does not say whether this would apply to same sex couples in civil partnerships with children, he indicated he favoured it doing so earlier this year. | Although he does not say whether this would apply to same sex couples in civil partnerships with children, he indicated he favoured it doing so earlier this year. |
| But for Labour, 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". |