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My political philosophy is an amalgam of my Christian faith and my experience as an MP and in wider life.
One of my greatest concerns is to restore those natural institutions in which families and communities thrive. The most important of these is marriage. The words of the marriage service of the Book of Common Prayer - based on the earlier Old Sarum Rite which goes back almost a millennium -defines the first purpose of marriage as "The increase of the human race". It is striking to see how sadly alternative routes to procreation and child rearing are failing our children.
The bald statistics from an official study in 1997 tell a stark story for children. In that year, four fifths of children aged ten, whose parents were married before their birth, still lived with both the parents. In contrast, ten year olds whose parents were living together unmarried at their birth and remaining unmarried - had only a one in six chance that their parents would still be together.
The statistics on performance in school, likelihood of getting and holding a job, even alcoholism and drug taking, tell a similar story. Perhaps most striking of all was a study carried out by the US department of Health showing that children born to married couples among the poorest decile of American families were far less likely to commit juvenile crime than those from any income level, in any other form of family arrangement.
As CS Lewis once said, Christians should not present themselves as kill-joys we need to show that we offer a happier fuller life in this case especially for children.
That is why I campaigned so hard for marriage as chairman of the Conservative family Campaign and fought for changes in the Family Law Act and in the tax and benefit system to reinforce marriage.
All this would be too late, however, for those children whose families have already failed. My campaign to try and improve the lives of those children languishing in the public care system started in 1996 with a ten-minute rule bill. These children are the most vulnerable in society they are our responsibility as wards of the state.
The statistics for adoption are depressing. Of the 53,000 children in care in 1999 only 2,000 were adopted. The outcomes for those in care are horrifying; boys from care make up 40% of the juvenile prison population and 25% of girls in care are pregnant before their 16th birthday. Educational attainment too, is depressingly low.
The benefit of having a stable home and someone "special" to care for a child cannot be underestimated. The structured framework of a mother and father caring for a child in a stable home is without doubt the best we can offer these unfortunate children, who have often been abused both mentally and physically.
I started an all-party campaign launched at the Institute for Economic Affairs in 1998. I co-founded the All Party Adoption Group in 2000 and was appointed to the Special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Adoption and Children Bill in 2001. My aim all along has been to increase the number of children adopted from care into loving homes in which they can flourish and grow. The child's welfare is paramount throughout this complicated yet delicate issue, and I have consistently fought to get the needs of these abandoned children more fully understood and recognised.
Our new leader Iain Duncan Smith said at the Conservative Spring Conference that "a nation that leaves its vulnerable behind diminishes its own future." I believe, as a Christian, that this is not just the responsibility of those who hold offices of power, but of every friend, neighbour, citizen of this country.
I am proud that the Conservative Party has returned to the ideas of Burke and Disraeli. Burke described the family as the 'little platoon' and vehemently defended marriage. Disraeli built his ideas of Victorian England around natural institutions and local government, not the central state: education led by the church, housing provided by provident associations, justice delivered by magistrates, drawn from local communities. As we embark on the exciting debate on the future of the NHS, let us remember that some of the best healthcare in the world is provided by the hospice movement based on voluntary associations, often faith-led, - not central government. It is an exiting time to be a Conservative Christian.
Related links
Factfile on the family
ccfwebsite.com briefing on the family
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