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Boris Johnson's no fault 'quickie' divorce reform is 'appallingly insensitive to national mood'

Boris Johnson is facing a rebellion from his own MPs on Monday over his plans to make it easier for couples to get a no fault quickie divorce -  Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Boris Johnson is facing a rebellion from his own MPs on Monday over his plans to make it easier for couples to get a no fault quickie divorce - Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

I don’t like to kick the Government when they are down, but their determination to introduce no-fault divorce in these unprecedented times, when many couple relationships are already intense pressure, is not just appallingly insensitive to the national mood but also deeply irresponsible.

To be sure, across the country stories are emerging of the difficulties of unrelieved time with spouses and children, when homeworking has to be juggled with home schooling and there’s no possibility of escape to the third space of gym or gin bar. But people are also rediscovering the importance of stable family life, that whilst relationships may be under significant pressure it’s about being the good enough parent, the good enough partner.

Yes, the madness and panic of Covid-world can seep under the front door, creating or exacerbating marital disharmony: one Manchester borough had a 76 per cent increase in referrals for help with relational conflict in April and in Dorset the police saw a 27 per cent increase in ‘domestic related incidents’ not meeting criminal thresholds. Dorset have recorded no increase in domestic abuse crime – the growth area is badly managed conflict.

Given that other areas are reporting similar Covid-related spikes in marital discord the appropriate government response should be to increase support to families through their Reducing Parental Conflict programme and Family Hubs: both are upping their game considerably in what is a social as well as a medical crisis.

The very last thing they should be doing is changing the legal framework to enable partners to divorce unilaterally, thereby sending a strong and staggeringly unhelpful signal about the commitment of marriage. Research from countries which have done this, even in ‘normal’ times, reveals an immediate hike in divorce rates.

Given our already-fraying social fabric in these deeply non-normal times, the likely hike would be even higher and would come at the worst possible moment. Yet the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill is coming into the Commons on Monday [8 th June], despite the concerted resistance to its ruthlessness mounted in the Lords.

The Government is singing a siren song to all couples tempted by the relational short-termism it represents. They argue that this change drains the conflict out of the divorce process by removing the need to cite any reason for irreconcilable breakdown. But this completely ignores the fact that the enduring conflict flares up over money and children issues which are dealt with separately.

They claim to be evidence-based but in reality they rely heavily on a single research report which was not properly peer-reviewed: the researchers involved were from the school of thought that changing law doesn’t change behaviour, that legal change is only a response to underlying cultural shifts and never an independent cause.

But this view clashes both with economic theory and on-the-ground research. Throughout the Lords debates the lead researcher attacked the Bill’s opponents on the grounds that they were ideologically motivated and accused ‘evangelical/Christian right organisations’ of trying to ‘hijack the debate.’ As one of those opponents I would say we were simply trying to have a debate – that is what the scrutiny chamber is there for.

This Bill should still be in that scrutiny chamber: it was rushed through its Third Reading when most peers were unable to attend due to Covid restrictions. But this is consistent with the questionable consultation process which ignored the 83 per cent of respondents who wanted to retain the right for an individual to contest a divorce and the 80 per cent  who dismissed the idea of one person simply being able to go online and notify the courts that the marriage was over.

The Government must know it will have a fight on its hands - perhaps that’s why they are giving MPs almost no notice of the legislation. But they should be much more concerned about the fight many wives, husbands and civil partners are waging to keep their families together in the face of enormous pressure.

They need to recognise that this Bill dismantles the meaning of commitments people made to each other in gentler times. It’s not about forcing spouses to stay with abusers, it’s about keeping the protective fence around save-able marriages intact, instead of knocking a hole in it with the destabilising influence no-fault divorce exerts.

Lord Farmer is a British businessman, philanthropist, former treasurer of the Conservative Party, and life peer in the House of Lords.