Pendragons Princess

What if their wives or girlfriends do not return to work? Do they both live on a year’s supply of welfare checks? Read on:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/4141738/

Lib-Dem-leader-Nick-Clegg-wants-fathers-to-get-a-year-off-work.html

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg wants fathers to get a year off work

Men should be given up to a year off work when they become fathers, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said, as he prepares to take paternity leave himself.

In an interview to be published in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Clegg describes as “pathetic” the current two week statutory entitlement for new fathers, and says that men should be able to take over parental leave to allow their wives or girlfriends to return to work.

Mr Clegg, whose wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez is due to give birth to their third child in a few weeks, also speaks candidly of his frustration at the lack of judgement shown by two high-profile party figures, Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, and Lembit Opik, who failed to become party president at the end of last year.

The attack comes as the leader enters his second year in office with a new focus on the family - and in particular the role of fathers who, he says, do not receive enough support.

The Lib Dems would give parents up to 19 months off, with the father able to take over care after six months if the mother wished to return to work, allowing men to be with their child beyond what Mr Clegg calls the “cooing and wiping phase.”

He said: “We’re all agreed that one of the great crises in this country for children, particularly for boys, is a lack or absence of positive male role models. “And we’ve got legislation that says you can take two weeks off when the baby’s barely aware of your existence. That’s not good enough.

“The problem is no one feels entitled.

“I just feel that if dads don’t get involved with their kids early on in a meaningful way often they don’t remain engaged afterwards. I personally think two weeks is a pathetic amount of parenting.”

As a father with young children, Mr Clegg admits that he would not allow a copy of the Daily Sport in his house - yet Mr Opik, Lib Dem MP for Montgomeryshire, writes a column for the publication, which features a number of topless models each day.

Nor was he happy at the antics of Mr Paddick, former deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and another high-profile Liberal Democrat, who was recently seen showering naked in the jungle on the reality television show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

Mr Clegg said: “I certainly wouldn’t go on I’m a Celebrity or stand in a tropical pool. Of course I wouldn’t.

“Does it make me uneasy? Yes.

“Do I think Lembit’s walking a tightrope? Yes I do.

“Equally, Lembit has a presence in parts of the public political debate that frankly very few politicians do. Does that incur risks? It does.

“The positive side of it is that you’re reaching people with a message they might not otherwise hear. The downside is clearly that you are either made to look as if … you’re sanctioning things that don’t reflect your views at all.

“I’ve spoken to both of them. Neither of them have positions of national authority in my party. “I lead a political party; I don’t lead a military operation. We are a liberal party in spirit and in name. There’s a long tradition of fairly eccentric individuals.

“I think people are full of common sense. They can distinguish between one or two individuals doing their own thing and what the team is doing as a whole.”

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A new focus on the family - I wonder if James Dobson knows about this? Of course, Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat, meaning he wants more state handouts for a starting family so that one parent can stay home and take care of the child while the other goes to work. Don’t get me wrong - I’m all for fathers learning how to take care of a baby’s needs, in no way should they be allowed off the hook for their squirted sperm. And, it also gives the mothers a chance to get away from the baby for awhile, too. I disagree with the extra handout Britain may wind up giving new fathers. Clegg has also met with opposition from other British Liberal Democrats regarding a new father’s respnsibility which isn’t surprising - the Daily Sport is not an Archie Comic book, and the reality shows on British television are more or less on the same par as American reality shows. Maybe Clegg will wind up changing parties or something but extra welfare handouts aside, it sounds like Clegg is at least trying to be openly responsible as a father. The drawback with the new handout being, of course, it will not guarantee good fathers; the handout could very well be wasted on cigs, alcohol, and who knows what else. This government move really needs to be thought through.