Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Father’s Rights, Pensions and Fox Hunting.
Father’s Rights
Asked for a reaction to this afternoon’s demonstration at Buckingham Palace by Fathers 4 Justice, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said everyone would accept that the issue of fathers’ rights was very difficult and complex. Clearly, it involved strong emotions and huge sensitivities and it therefore had to be handled in a sensitive way. In the Government’s view, the child’s interests were paramount. Thus, where it was safe to do so, children should have contact with both their parents. The dilemma arose when such a situation was deemed to be impossible or was not happening for whatever reason. That was why the Government had been talking to all those involved in the issue, including Fathers 4 Justice. As we had always made clear, we did not believe that demonstrations like the one today helped to address the full complexity of the problem. Asked if he thought such protests tarnished the case, the PMOS said that that was for others to judge. That said, given the full complexity of this issue, it could not be reduced to random events. It had to be considered in the round. In our view it was a matter for thoughtful dialogue. We believed that these issues were best addressed through facilitation between the former partners. We recognised that there were huge difficulties when that did not occur, but such an option had to be carefully considered, not dealt with by events like the one today.
Pensions
Asked if the Prime Minister would accept the ‘widespread characterisation’ of the UK’s pensions industry being ‘in crisis’ and the gap in provision having ‘exploded’ during his term in office, the PMOS said that this was a problem which was being confronted internationally, as well as in the UK, because of a huge range of factors. It was therefore important to approach it in two ways: firstly by dealing with the immediate issues, as we were doing through the Pension Bill which had set up the Pension Protection Fund which would guarantee protection if a company went bust. We had also set aside £400m for the Financial Assistance Scheme to help those who had already suffered from this problem. However, it was also important to address the longer term issues, as we were doing through the Pensions Commission, under the chairmanship of Adair Turner. The Commission was due to report its findings in the autumn. After that we would be able to have a sensible debate looking at the issue in the round, rather than turn the whole thing into some sort of blame game.
Fox Hunting
Asked if the motion on a two-year delay would be amendable and subject to a free vote, the PMOS said that the Hunting Bill would be before the House on Wednesday and he would discuss the issue in more detail then. As we had said consistently, the whole issue of fox hunting would be a matter for a free vote and the Prime Minister believed that Parliament should deal with it in that spirit. Asked if he was indicating that both a fox hunting ban and when that ban might come into force would be subject to free votes, the PMOS said yes.
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