A question of commitment

Coming days after David Cameron advocated a return to Christian values to counteract Britain’s “moral collapse”, and a week after the two men fell out spectacularly over the Prime Minister vetoing the eurozone bailout plan, taxpayers have every right to question the Government’s approach.

Coalition government is, after all, a new phenomenon in this country – and it could be argued that this administration, despite these differences, is more united than New Labour under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. There also now appears to be an understanding that Mr Clegg and the Lib Dems will be given licence to speak out so that they can retain their electoral identity.

That said, the Sheffield Hallam MP needs to accept that his party is the junior coalition partner and that it cannot attempt to veto every policy which goes against its core values. Some give and take is required in this political partnership, apt advice as Mr Clegg uses a planned speech today on the merits of an “open society” to suggest that the tax system should not be used to advocate marriage.

The Deputy Prime Minister is right to question whether this notion is affordable. Many will also concur when he argues that “most people get married because they love each other, not because they have looked at their tax return and seen that they will get some money back from the State”.

However, given the extent to which children suffer when their parents – married or otherwise – break up, there does need to be a reappraisal of the extent to which the Government could, or should, become involved with family policy, or whether these are matters solely for the individuals concerned and their circumstances.

Perhaps, given this, the question should not be whether the Government can afford tax breaks for married couples, but whether the country can afford not to defend, and nurture, the concept of marriage in these austere times?