The results are an indication not only of how complex the subject of family contact can be, but also a lesson in how carefully policy makers must treat opinion surveys. It shows how anyone seeking to influence a debate could do so by selectively reporting results, or by careful wording of the questions. The lesson is especially timely in the light of the consultation document on parental separation published by the Government last week.
There is little doubt that the high-profile campaign by Fathers4Justice has succeeded in pushing family contact up the national agenda. Tim Loughton, the shadow children's minister, dismisses the Government's consultation as a kneejerk reaction to the Fathers4Justice campaign. Yet when a section of the legal system leaves a significant minority of the people who have had contact with it with such a deep sense of injustice, and when a similar minority are able to thwart the intention of the courts without much fear of comeback, then something has to change.
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