20.06.1996

Lawyers’ bonanza

Following many months of bitter opposition from all and sundry - the tabloid press, lawyers, ‘moral majority’ types, rightwing MPs, Labour MPs, etc - the now notorious Family Law Bill managed to scrape its way through Parliament.

Victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat by a last minute concession to Labour amendments, which agreed to divide pensions between spouses on divorce and a whole host of other related issues.

Farcically, this bill was intended to be the flagship of the government’s legislative programme - to show that they really cared about the family, but could be “sensible and compassionate” (Major) at the same time. Labour’s natural instinct to sink the Tories’ flagship was tempered by the new Labour image of being the real party of ‘family values’.

The Family Law Bill, which will come into operation in 1998, will scrap ‘quickie’ divorces and introduce so-called ‘no-fault’ divorce after an 18-month waiting period to allow “reflection and consideration” for couples. Sounds very nice and moderate. After all, in England and Wales two out of five marriages end in divorce, leaving them with the highest rate in Europe at twice the average. This saw 175,000 couples getting divorced last year. Surely we all agree that it is nice to talk and avoid ‘unnecessary’ acrimony?

Not really. This bill will see yet more state intrusion into our lives, as ‘experts’ will be telling us that we should be ‘cooling down’ now and become more ‘mature’. The Law Society has stated that the bill will be “a bonanza” for lawyers and Nigel Shepherd, chairman of the Solicitors Family Law Association, has outlined a slightly alarming vision of the future: “As a result of the vote, divorce will become an assault course of obligatory meetings and immovable time periods - hurdles that will have to be cleared before a divorce can be obtained.”

The ever growing reality in Britain is that economic and financial stresses and strains are the prime cause of domestic tension, separation and eventual divorce. The growth of mass poverty and hardship, in conjunction with the Tories’ cult of ‘flexibility’, is forcing people apart and ruining lives.

No army of marriage counsellors, lawyers, sympathetic experts, priests and ‘moral’ busy-bodies can alter this basic fact.

Paul Greenaway