Category: news

Absent fathers should be “stigmatised” by society in the same way drink-drivers are, David Cameron has said.

A father himself, Mr Cameron said “runaway dads” should feel the “full force of shame” for their actions.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph to mark Father’s Day, he said it was not acceptable for single mothers to be left to bring children up on their own.

Meanwhile a survey has suggested men feel good at being hands-on fathers but say they are less trusted than mothers.

The prime minister also said he was determined to keep his election pledge of tax breaks for married couples.

The policy had been dropped by the coalition because of Liberal Democrat opposition.

“I want us to recognise marriage in the tax system so as a country we show we value commitment,” he wrote.

The Camerons have three children, Nancy, Arthur and Florence – who was born last August.

Their first child, Ivan, who was born profoundly disabled and needed 24-hour care, died in February 2009.

Mr Cameron said traditional family life was the “cornerstone of our society” and called for a new drive to “bring fathers back into the lives of all our children”.

He said even when parents were separated, fathers had a duty to support “financially and emotionally” their children, spending time with them at weekends, attending nativity plays and taking an interest in their education.

Where men were unwilling to face up to their family obligations, he said that it was up to the rest of society to make clear that such behaviour was unacceptable.

“It’s high time runaway dads were stigmatised and the full force of shame was heaped upon them,” he said.

“They should be looked at like drink-drivers, people who are beyond the pale.

“They need the message rammed home to them, from every part of our culture, that what they’re doing is wrong; that leaving single mothers, who do a heroic job against all odds, to fend for themselves simply isn’t acceptable.”

The prime minister also talked about his admiration from his own father, Ian Cameron, who died last year aged 77.

“From my father, I learned about responsibility.

“Seeing him get up before the crack of dawn to go and do a hard day’s work and not come back until late at night had a profound impact on me,” he said.

To mark Father’s Day, a survey of 1,000 fathers – all with children aged under five – found only 15% of fathers believed their partners were more competent at caring for their baby than they were.

But 61% said they felt the general public did not trust men to care for babies as much as they trust women to.

Rob Williams, chief executive of Fatherhood Institute, the think tank which carried out the survey, said: “It is great to find out that fathers feel they are doing a good job at looking after their babies.

“It seems that this new generation of parents is well ahead of public opinion and also of public services.”

The survey also showed that nearly half said they felt they had been ignored by maternity services, while 18% said they were not aware of their right to take two weeks’ paternity leave and pay.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has urged the unions not to fall into a government “trap” by striking over plans to reform public sector pensions.

He said Chancellor George Osborne was trying to provoke industrial action so he could blame them for the weak economic recovery.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Mr Balls said ministers were wrong to announce changes before talks with unions ended.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has said there will be negotiation.

Union leaders are threatening the biggest wave of strikes since 1926, after the government unveiled proposals for public sector employees to work longer and pay more for less generous entitlements in retirement.

In his article, Mr Balls writes: “From David Cameron down, ministers are saying to the trade unions: ‘Bring it on.’ As in the 1980s, they seem to be spoiling for a fight, goading the unions and trying to provoke strikes.”

He said “everyone agrees public sector pensions need to be reviewed as people live longer” and pension rules “have to change” for younger workers.

But he added “the government should be getting round the table and talking changes through”.

He said the economy was “flat-lining” and Mr Osborne was hoping there would be walk-outs.

“He knows he’s losing the economic argument on the deficit and jobs and needs to change course. But instead he’s trying to pick a fight about pensions, provoke strikes and persuade the public to blame the stalling economy on the unions.”

Mr Balls added: “That’s why trade union leaders must avoid George Osborne’s trap. He wants them to think that going on strike is the only option and the best way to win the argument.”

BBC political correspondent Vicki Young said the Labour leadership had until now refused to be drawn on whether the unions were adopting appropriate tactics in their fight with the government.

Public sector workers are already facing heavy job cuts and a pay freeze.

The government proposals would see employees – bar members of the armed forces, police and fire service – receive their occupational pension at the same time as the state pension in future.

Many can currently receive a full pension at 60 but the state pension age is due to rise to 66 for both men and women by April 2020.

Ministers also want to move the public sector scheme from a final salary system to benefits based on career-average earnings. However, lower paid workers would not have their pension contributions increased

Speaking on Saturday, Mr Cable said: “The government wants to negotiate over this and our belief is that most trade unionists want to negotiate over this as well.

“It’s a very big, complex, difficult issue. But there’s got to be reform otherwise the burden falls on taxpayers and future generations. We have got to do something about it.”

Dr Mary Boustead, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has called for negotiations to start afresh.

But a strike by the ATL and the National Union of Teachers is expected to disrupt thousands of schools in England and Wales on 30 June.

They will walk out on the same day as PCS union members, who are mainly from the civil service and government agencies.

Unison, which represents 1.3 million people working for local authorities, the NHS, colleges and the police, has not yet balloted its members on industrial action. Its leader Dave Prentis said unions were prepared for “sustained and indefinite” strikes.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Tackling violence in schools is a challenge in many countries. The Georgian government has taken a typically robust approach, putting uniformed officers in the classroom. It has had some success – but is also provoking unease.

Sunshine pours in through the high-arched windows of the immaculately restored 19th Century building on to the faces of laughing children as they stream into class.

It is hard to imagine that Georgian schools like this were once places of fear – bullying was rife and, according to the UN, more than 47% of children said they had been victims of physical violence, mainly from their fellow pupils.

In one month alone in 2007, four children died as a result of extremely violent bullying.

Many students had started taking knives to school to protect themselves.

But that was before the government stepped in.

One thousand uniformed officers, trained by police, are now stationed in all urban schools.

“If some schoolchildren disrupt classes, we talk to them,” said Mukhran Guliashvili, one of the officers.

“We have had special training, including psychological training, so we know how to deal with children.”

Three officers patrol each school. They cannot arrest the children, but their reports can lead to a child being expelled.

And, because the officers change school every couple of weeks, it is easier for them to remain neutral figures of authority.

Pupils say the scheme appears to have worked.

“Before they came here, it was a very bad situation because children were like wild animals,” said one teenage girl.

“Now they are calm.”

Another girl said: “The school wasn’t safe. Of course the atmosphere is better now. There is more studying going on now than before.”

But history teacher Davit Bragvadze is less convinced.

As he jokes with pupils, it is clear he is the sort of inspirational teacher that brings his subject to life. But whenever the discussion gets too lively, officers come into his classroom to complain.

And one even reported Mr Bragvadze to the authorities for laughing and joking with his pupils after class.

“I don’t feel good,” he said.

“It’s not good for me, it’s not good for the lesson, and it’s not good for the educational process. It’s bad for it.”

For Lali Kiknadze, having officers in school has led to even worse consequences.

She has gone to court in an attempt to get her job back.

When an officer had wanted to report a colleague for forgetting the class registration book in the staff room, Ms Kiknadze objected.

The officer then reported her to the authorities, accusing her of not supporting the government’s reforms.

After a 20-year career, she was fired.

Her lawyer, Tamar Gabisonia, who also runs a human rights organisation, said officers regularly overstep the mark by interfering with teachers’ work.

“It seems to be like a police regime in the school. And that’s why they think they have a lot of power and they excessively use their force.”

Ms Gabisonia believes stationing uniformed officers in school is all part of a wider problem in Georgia: that the government takes a heavy-handed approach when it feels public order is threatened.

Human rights organisations say this was shown in May, when to make way for independence day celebrations, police officers dispersed an anti-government protest being held in front of parliament.

They fired rubber bullets into a crowd and are accused of beating journalists and peaceful protesters.

The police are accused of overreacting by indiscriminately using violence, and this has undermined the government’s credibility here.

Now EU and UN officials are calling for an investigation into whether the police used excessive force.

But the government says the demonstrators were not peaceful and it is true that hundreds were masked and armed with heavy sticks.

As police started approaching, some protestors smashed bottles to use as weapons, telling the BBC they were willing to fight.

May’s rally, which towards the end threatened to get out of control, showed how hard it is for Georgian authorities to combat violence, while at the same time upholding civil liberties.

Dimitri Shashkin, Georgia’s education minister, has no doubts that by placing officers in schools, he is achieving both these aims.

He argues that the scheme supports teachers by allowing them to concentrate on teaching, leaving officers to worry about security.

“They don’t have weapons, they have a special uniform,” he said.

“And, as the polls show, 85% of the population support this reform, and 81% say that our schools are now safe. It has huge support among the people.”

Meanwhile, back at the school students clearly appreciate how much safer school is, thanks to the officers.

But as they report directly to the government, the officers are also seen as more influential than teachers.

Human rights organisations say this is worrying proof that the state here is becoming too powerful.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.