by Tony Rucinski, Coalition for Marriage
When it comes to real marriage and what best constitutes family, these are not left or right issues. They are matters of right and wrong. It’s about what gives children the best start, strengthens families and serves the common good.
People may disagree on tax, borders or trade, yet still agree on this. A stable lifelong union of a man and a woman is a public good because it roots parents and children in committed families. This sits above political allegiances. Where any party strengthens marriage and family, that deserves notice. Where it undermines them, that matters too.
Journalists sometimes try to turn support for real marriage into a ‘gotcha’, hoping a politician will shuffle away from it. Recent events suggest that tactic is losing force.
At a press conference last week, Nigel Farage was asked whether Danny Kruger’s views on marriage are welcome in Reform. Kruger, formerly chief speechwriter to David Cameron, has said that “the normative family – held together by marriage, by mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children and the sake of their own parents and for the sake of themselves – this is the only possible basis for a safe and successful society”.
Farage replied without hesitation: “children who have two stable parents have a better chance in life. And the most stable… relationships, the ones that last the longest, tend to be between men and women.” He also noted that many children are not getting the start they deserve.