Tim Almond

via The Times

All fathers will be required by law to sign their child’s birth certificate under new measures designed to increase parental responsibility.

The new law will give birth registrars powers to pursue reluctant fathers who do not want to be named. It will also prevent mothers from keeping the name of the father off the birth certificate just because the relationship has broken up, or she wants to exclude him from her child’s life.

…

Under the new scheme, if a mother presents to register the birth of her child in her name only, she will be asked who the father is. That in itself is a major change.

…

However there is little the new law can do if the mother does not want to identify the father and he does not want to be named.

So, this “major change” is they can ask the mother, but as she can still refuse, in terms of end result of the process, it’s exactly as we have right now.

Politicians love to talk tough about this issue, but it’s one of those political nettles that politicians fail to grasp.

Tags: Politics, Stupidity //