Is parliament now willing to listen to UK fathers?

"Fathers are often the missing link in policy debates about how better outcomes for children and greater gender equality can be delivered.", states Daddy Dearest?, Public Policy and Active Fatherhood, a book by the Institute of Public Policy Research, to be launched next week by Beverley Hughes, children's minister.

The government will also announce that fathers should have the right to six months' unpaid paternity leave independent of the decision of the female partner to take leave.

[too bad they have to do it to "make fathers feel more responsible" instead of just doing it because it's the right thing to do.]

entire Guardian article

Georgia Governor gives fathers hope

Over a dozen members of Fathers Are Parents Too (FAPT) attended the GOP breakfast on October 8th in Lawrenceville with Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. The governor commented that when he was a legislator he "got more letters related to custody issues than anything else”..."I understand the need for your concern"...“People should be able to expect judges to follow the laws legislators make.




Big Brother protesters vow to continue fight for rights
Oct 7 2005

Jason Hatch (33) and David Pyke ( 49) were fined [Oct. 6] for their part in a failed protest at the Celebrity Big Brother house January 14...They were both fined £400 and ordered to pay a further £ 418 in costs and compensation...Speaking outside court Hatch, the Batman protester who scaled the front of Buckingham Palace earlier this year, said he was disappointed at the outcome.

He said: "I am disappointed. I'm a single parent and they are just taking away the food from my child to pay a fine for a peaceful protest...."The law is still in a right shambles and we are not going to stop." Hatch went on..."you are going to see a lot more of that sort in the name of Real Fathers 4 Justice. We are real fathers who care and will fight for their children and we will get this law changed."
entire ic Birmingham article

Father Christmas 2004 Fathers4Justice protestors plead not guilty. Oct. 7, 2005

Helena Tilbury, 19, Garry Hollington, 30, and Martin Matthews, 37, unfurled a banner reading, "Put the Father back into Xmas" during a four-hour sit-in above the UK's busiest rail line on December 16 last year.

They appeared at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court this week, along with Edward Gorecki, 47, who is said to have co-ordinated the protest from nearby. All four denied putting rail passengers in danger between Vauxhall station and Queenstown Road station, Battersea.

Prosecutor David Durose said, "You've heard the defendants were protesting in support of the organisation Fathers 4 Justice," he said. "This case isn't about that protest or whether that cause is a proper cause - it may well be. It may be you will have sympathy..."

entire ic Southlondon article

In case the UK government isn't really ready to listen to fathers, Fathers4Justice has this campaign to get their attention

It's Bedlam!
* In support of overnight stays with noncustodial parents *