Cameron condemns absent dads

Absent fathers must be treated by society in the same way as drink drivers, David Cameron argues today. The Prime Minister, defending the traditional family in an article marking Father's Day, says Britain should be made a "genuinely hostile" place for fathers who abandon their families.

Mr Cameron also reiterates his promise for tax breaks for married couples, a Tory manifesto policy which has yet to be introduced.

"I want us to recognise marriage in the tax system so that as a country we show we value commitment," Mr Cameron writes in The Sunday Telegraph.

He adds: "It's high time runaway dads were stigmatised, and the full force of shame was heaped upon them. They should be looked at like drink-drivers, people who are beyond the pale."