Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday published an article in the Sunday Telegraph criticising “runaway dads” and calling for them to be stigmatised in the same way as drink drivers. He says that fathers should “financially and emotionally support their child even if they have split up from their mother” and “spend time with their kids at weekends, taking them to the football or to the playground; to go to the nativity play and take an interest in their child’s education.”
Whilst we dont disagree that fathers should take an interest in theirchild’s life we believe the contents of the article are very short sighted and ignore the idea that often fathers are not involved in their children’s lives for good reason, for example if they pose a risk to the child. We also know many many fathers are desperate to do the kind of things that David Cameron talks about but are prevented from doing so by the children’s mother for no good reason.
In a week when the Government may well announce sweeping cuts to the legal aid budget which will completely stop fathers from claiming legal aid to help them enforce their rights to see their children(and their children’s rights to see them) we would ask that all of the fathers who find themselves prevented from seeing their children make their voices heard. Please feel free to tell us your stories or better still contact your MP and tell them what the Government is really doing to family life.