Mummy Buzz

Jun
19
2011

David Cameron's Strong Words for Runaway Dads

British PM's Father's Day Message

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph for Father's Day, British Prime Minister David Cameron reminisced about his own father's legacy, while reserving strong words for the country's deserter dads. Cameron stressed the need to make Britain "a genuinely hostile" place for AWOL fathers.

"It's high time runaway dads were stigmatised, and the full force of shame was heaped upon them," said Cameron.

"They should be looked at like drink drivers, people who are beyond the pale. They need the message rammed home to them, from every part of our culture, that what they're doing is wrong – that leaving single mothers, who do a heroic job against all odds, to fend for themselves simply isn't acceptable."

Various laws were proposed in 2009, which could see absentee fathers "stripped of driving licences and passports by enforcement officials without appearing in court".

The British Prime Minister insisted that fathers must support their kids both financially and emotionally, even if they are estranged from the children's mother.

He praised his government's family-friendly reforms, which include flexible paternity leave, additional benefits and financial assistance, all of which he claimed was a step in the right direction to "bring fathers back into the lives of all our children".

While the Prime Minister had nothing but praise for the job done by his own late father, he doesn't claim to be a perfect father to his three kids. His first child, Ivan, was born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy and died when he was only six.