LETTER:Mackay wants to save marriages

From The Rev Fred Pritchard

Sir: Perhaps it is time for a minister, who has had some experience in 40 years of dealing with requests for marriage, including the second marriage of divorced persons, to say something about the present campaign to save the institution from the alleged attacks of the Lord Chancellor.

I have not yet heard a single argument from the opponents against Lord Mackay's contention that the proposed year's delay for mediation is more likely to help strengthen marriage than weaken it. Indeed, their so-called reasons sound suspiciously like an attempt to convince by persistent reiteration of ill-thought-out slogans.

As for the contention that the stability of marriage depends on being able to fasten fault: does anyone imagine that the breakdown of a solemnly entered relationship can happen without fault? The difficulty is that in most cases there are faults on both sides, and the attempt by either party to fix all the blame on the other can only make a bad situation worse. Mediation, even if it fails to heal the breach, can prevent the bitterness getting worse.

It is not only politically correct lefties who can see the merits of Lord Mackay's proposals.

Fred S. Pritchard

Newport, Gwent

3 November