From the BBC Fathers' protest disrupts Synod
Archbishop slams justice policy
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has branded the government's penal policy "scandalous".
The Church of England's General Synod voted to accept a report calling for prison to be used as a last resort. Dr Williams condemned the government for overseeing a massive rise in the prison population and for locking up more vulnerable children and women.He blamed the government for failing to prevent the prison population almost doubling from 42,000 in 1991 to its current high of 76,000
Sounds like men in jail are less of a priority than women in jail. This speech occurred a few hours after Fathers 4 Justice disrupted the service. You'll notice there's no mention of fathers or families. No connection between fatherless families and lawlessness and no sympathy for fathers or their children. It's very easy to say there are too many people in prison and we ought to reform them, but the Church of England refuses to take anything but a politically correct path about family break-up.
Fathers' protest disrupts Synod
Fathers' rights activists have disrupted the Sunday service of the Church of England's General Synod with a rooftop protest on York Minster.A dozen members of Fathers 4 Justice, dressed as monks, vicars and nuns, have been arrested after storming the historic cathedral.
The protesters were allowed to read a message out to the congregation which said that the church "promoted marriage but is not prepared to act when there is breakdown between the parent and the child".
Fathers 4 Justice leader Matt O'Connor was earlier rugby tackled and dragged out of the service by church members.
As he picked himself up he shouted: "Remember, half a million children are deprived of contact with their fathers and the church does nothing.
"Shame on you."
Police later moved in and arrested 12 people on suspicion of criminal damage and assault.
Two people remain on the cathedral roof.
The Dean of York, the Very Reverend Keith Jones, said: "We deeply regret the violent intrusion into a place of Christian worship and witness - that should not have happened".
Powder bomb
Father 4 Justice was formed two years ago to campaign against what it sees as an inability to help fathers gain access to their children through legal action.
It hit the headlines in May with a purple powder bomb attack on Tony Blair in the House of Commons.
The group's latest protest comes after newspaper reports that Tory leader Michael Howard will call for shared parenting rights as he stages a summit on custody battles.
Ministers are considering law changes that would give divorced fathers a better deal on custody and access rights, according to the Sunday Times.
Shared parenting
Mothers who flout court orders by denying ex-husbands access could receive community service orders under the proposals, the paper adds.
The summit will consider the idea of shared parenting, where mothers and fathers get equal access rights, which is common practice in New Zealand, Australia and the US.
In the Observer, a government minister is quoted as saying that fathers have a "very strong and I think very justified sense of grievance" about the family courts.
The government must tackle "an absolute gender bias" in the courts which says a child's place is with its mother, the minister said.
Comments