Evangelical Alliance & CARE Welcome David Cameron's Commitment to Marriage & Family

The Christian Social Action Charity CARE, and the Evangelical Alliance, have welcomed Conservative Party Leader David Cameron's plans to emphasise the importance of marriage.

|PIC1|Cameron this week followed up his audacious bid to capture the NHS as a Conservative issue with an appeal to traditional Tory family values.

In a wide-ranging speech to close the party's annual conference Cameron gave his widely-trailed commitment not to cut NHS services, but added pledges backing both family life and faith schools

He was applauded for a promise to support faith schools, provided they allowed some non-believers to become pupils, but he is likely to have stirred further controversy surrounding the Civil Partnerships Act, when he expressed his approval of allowing same-sex cohabiting partners identical legal status as heterosexual married couples.

Faith schools has been an area fully backed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, but has also been the subject of disquiet among many MPs. On the matter Cameron said, "Let me face head-on the question of faith schools. I know that people feel passionately about this issue. So do I. I support faith schools.

"I know they are a good idea because so many parents want to send their children to them, and I back their judgment.

"Now a new generation of Muslim schools is emerging. If these schools are to be British state schools, they must be part of our society, not separate from it."

He went on to praise the Church of England for saying it would admit a quarter of pupils from non-Anglican backgrounds in new church schools, describing it "a great example of what I mean by social responsibility" to foster community cohesion.

He said, "I believe the time has come for other faith groups to show similar social responsibility. And in the classroom, we must make sure that children learn about the core components of British identity - our history, our language, our institutions and the political foundations of our society: the rule of law, democracy and individual freedom."

In the speech to the Conservative Party conference, Cameron stressed the importance of marriage:

"I will set a simple test for each and every one of our policies: does it help families?"......

"I also believe that marriage is a great institution, and we should support it", Cameron said.

Nola Leach, CEO of CARE, said: "CARE welcomes David Cameron's positive comments that marriage helps families. This is refreshing given the negative comments on traditional marriages."

Dr David R Muir, Public Policy Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: "We commend David Cameron's commitment to marriage and the importance of family. In a major Faith & Nation report to be released later this month the Evangelical Alliance will call on government to promote laws, policies, and financial incentives that strengthen marriage and family life as foundational for civil society."

An Evangelical Alliance release states that: "Although Cameron talks about the meaning of commitment in marriage in various relationships, including that between 'a woman and a woman' or 'a man with another man', the Faith & Nation report supports the ordinance of marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman.