FATHERS4JUSTICE GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN – VOTE FOR SHARED PARENTING
Dear supporter,
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who asked their MP to sign Early Day Motion 210 http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/210
As a result of your efforts, 104 MPs have signed up to support shared parenting. This is a remarkable achievement given that 12 months ago, we had little support in parliament.
This is entirely down to your efforts. However, the hard work begins now.
We need to build upon this cross-party support between now and the 2015 General Election which is less than a year away. We have already made progress with several of the main parties on this issue in confidential talks. We hope to share news of this with you in September.
In the meantime we need you to urgently write to your MP if they signed EDM 210.
You can see if they signed here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/210
If they have signed EDM 210, please use the template letter below to write a letter to your MP asking them to write to Home Secretary Theresa May and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, pressing them to support “a wide ranging and meaningful inquiry into the family justice system that is inclusive of ALL views and groups”.
Our parliamentary sponsors will be doing the same and Fathers4Justice will continue to brief MPs on a one-to-one basis about shared parenting. Whilst parliament breaks for summer recess shortly, it is vital we keep the pressure on MPs over the summer months so we can follow up with them when they return in the Autumn.
Please use our template letter below and follow the instructions closely ref how to do this. Thanks again for your help which will one day benefit the lives of millions of children and families.
Nadine O’Connor
Campaign Director, Fathers4Justice
PS Please ensure you attach a picture of your children and grandchildren when you write to your MP with the date you last saw them written on it. Also, our Shared Parenting Briefing Document will be available shortly from https://fathers-4-justice.org
LETTER WRITING GUIDELINES
* Letters to be sent to MPs who signed EDM 210 – check here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/210
* Please personalise the sample letter or use it as the basis for your own letter as original letters are more powerful.
* Find your MP here: https://www.writetothem.com and http://www.theyworkforyou.com
* Follow up with your MP if you haven’t had an acknowledgement after 2 weeks.
* Share your response with us at [email protected] or here https://www.facebook.com/Fathers4Justicehttps://twitter.com/F4JOfficial
SAMPLE LETTER TO MP’S WHO SUPPORTED EDM 210
…….., MP for…….
House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA
Dear (insert MP’s first name),
I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and my family for signing Early Day Motion 210 “Shared Parenting Rights and the Family Courts” (2013/2014 session)”.
I believe that fatherlessness is the social justice issue of our time. It is having a devastating impact on children, families and society as a whole. See attached my picture of my (son/daughter/grandchild) who I haven’t seen since (date).
The cancer of family breakdown and removal of fathers from families is costing the country £44 billion every year* and has left 3.8 million children living in fatherless homes – that is 1 in 3 children living without a dad.* The only way we can begin to end mass fatherlessness is to ensure children retain the love and support of their fathers through shared parenting in the event their parents separate.
I strongly believe that shared parenting is responsible parenting. It is not only morally and ethically right, but will produce better outcomes for our children, our families and our society as a whole.
Today I am asking you to continue your support for shared parenting by writing to Home Secretary Theresa May and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling regarding this matter and asking them to support “a wide ranging and meaningful Inquiry into the family justice system that is inclusive of ALL views and groups”.
Regrettably over the last decade, the voices of over 40,000 families in Fathers4Justice have been excluded from proper consideration by parliament and government. It cannot be right that such a large constituency of people who have suffered from the traumatic impact of fatherlessness, should be excluded in this way.
I would also urge you to press for the relevant select committees to address the problem of fatherlessness and the need for shared parenting as an urgent priority.
Your support on this matter is not only hugely appreciated by me and my family, but I believe will be welcomed by the 84% of people who support shared parenting**.
Yours sincerely
(add your NAME and address)
PS I’d also like to send you our Shared Parenting Briefing paper at a later date and hope that’s OK. If you would like to arrange a personal briefing with the Fathers4Justic team you can contact them at [email protected] or https://fathers-4-justice.org
*Office of National Statistics **YouGov Poll, June 2012
THE RESULTS: EARLY DAY MOTION 210 “Shared Parenting Rights and the Family Courts” (2013/2014 session)”.
* 104 signatures
* 15th highest supported EDM in this session of Parliament out of 1,348 EDM’s.
Signatories include:
* David Blunkett MP – Labour
* John Redwood MP – Conservative
* Gerald Kaufman MP – Labour
* Frank Field MP – Labour
* John Hemming MP – Liberal Democrats
* David Lammy MP – Labour
* Caroline Lucas MP – Green Party
* Michael Meacher MP – Labour
* Ian Paisley Jnr MP – Democratic Unionist
EARLY DAY MOTION 2010 SHARED PARENTING RIGHTS AND THE FAMILY COURTS
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/210
That this House notes that many fathers convicted of no criminal offence have very limited access to their children as a result of decisions made by the family courts following separation or divorce; further notes that the family courts operate in conditions of secrecy in which there is a lack of public accountability for the decisions they make; believes that mothers, children and fathers all have rights in relation to family contact and access where there has been family breakdown; further believes there should not be a presumption that family breakdown is the primary responsibility of either parent; further believes that where there is palpably no threat to children from their father in the context of family breakdown, the courts should try to maximise reasonable access in the interests of the children; and calls on the Government to review the operation of the family courts in general and their decision-making in relation to fathers’ access to children in the context of family breakdown in particular, taking into account the testimony of the many thousands of fathers who feel their rights are being ignored or abused in relation to their children and in particular the organisation Fathers4Justice and the 36,000 families it represents.
