The Relationships Foundation comments on Nick Clegg's Speech

In today’s speech on the nature of an Open Society, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg included a widely-trailed swipe at marriage tax allowances, using cheap debating points not worthy of a sixth former.

For both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives the argument about marriage tax allowances is a massive distraction from an area – family policy – where the coalition government has a miserable record of failure. For the Lib Dems it stands as a totem of opposition to their coalition partners; for the Conservatives it gives a necessary appearance of supporting marriage.


Relationships Foundation Executive Director, Michael Trend, said: “Effective family policy should not have become a pawn in coalition politics, rallying the troops at the expense of children’s life chances. And strengthening marriage and supporting stable family life must not become collateral damage in the tank manoeuvres of liberalism and conservatism.

“Despite families in the UK being among the most pressured in Europe, the coalition still has no clear, integrated family policy across all areas of government. The piecemeal initiatives that have been brought forward, including the recent announcement about troubled families, do not go to the heart of the matter but merely try to address one area where the symptoms have now become so intolerable that action is unavoidable.

“If we want to see real progress in improving wellbeing, increasing children’s life chances, higher educational attainment, less crime and reduced welfare dependency we cannot afford another year of such limited action and stage managed policy disagreements around the family.”




The Relationships Foundation, established in 1993, is a Cambridge-based independent think tank seeking a better connected society. It studies the effect that culture, business and government have on relationships. It proposes new ideas for strengthening social connections, campaigns on issues where relationships are being undermined, and trains and equips people to think relationally for themselves.