Marriage
Religious institutions and Prime Minister David Cameron are set to lock horns after another campaign to keep marriage special was launched in May.
High Court Judge Sir Paul Coleridge is responsible for the latest campaign, which he said was much needed in order to benefit society.
He pointed out that 500,000 children and adults are involved in the family justice system every year, while the financial cost of family breakdown is £44 billion a year.
Sir Paul, who was interviewed in the News Review section of the Sunday Times and in the Daily Mail, said he decided to act out of his belief that only a popular, grassroots counter-offensive can restore marriage to its central place in British society.
The Marriage Foundation, an independent charity, will champion marriage as the ‘gold standard for relationships’ and set out a raft of policies aimed at strengthening the institution.
It will campaign to improve the public understanding of the nature, benefits and importance of marriage, and how healthy married relationships provide the most stable environment in which to raise children.
Sir Paul said, ‘Marriage and family breakdown is one of the most destructive scourges of our time. For that reason, I have been trying to raise the subject whenever I have had the chance to speak publicly on the matter.
‘I am now convinced it is time not only to talk but to act. Waiting for government or others to take action is merely an excuse for moaning and inactivity’.
He added that successive governments have failed to back marriage either financially, politically, or through the provision of relationship support.
The campaign comes after the Coalition for Marriage received more than 500,000 signatures for its marriage petition.
