Both the main parties have today issued their plans for family policy. The Labour Government has issued a Green Paper entitled “Support for all: The Families & Relationships Green Paper”. David Willetts MP, the shadow cabinet member responsible for family policy, has issued the Conservatives’ Draft Manifesto Chapter on family policy.
The Conservatives have accused Labour of stealing their policies, such as increasing grandparents’ access to their grandchildren in special circumstances and extending flexible working rights. Labour has accused the Conservatives of leaving important details out of their document, such as barring middle income families from Child Trust Funds. This gave Gordon Brown the opportunity to present himself as the man for middle Britain, saying at Prime Minister’s Questions today that the Conservatives were ‘out of touch’ with middle income families.
After last week’s alleged indecision from David Cameron on when and how he would create a tax incentive for married couples, the Conservatives’ paper pledges to recognise marriage in the tax system in the next Parliament, as well as ending the ‘couple penalty’ in the tax credit system.
