The Family

The four years since 2003 have seen the constant undermining of marriage and traditional family life by the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament.

. Civil Partnerships were introduced in 2005 and all MSP's of ALL parties voted for these, except the Tories.

. The Family Law Reform Bill was passed in 2006. This allowed for "quickie" divorces and gave the same rights of inheritance tax, pension, rights etc to unmarried heterosexual couples to married couples. More and more politicians claim to back marriage - but by their actions they tell young people considering this commitment "Don't bother - cohabiting is just as good as marriage and gets the same rewards". Christian Peoples Alliance will introduce a transferable married couples tax allowance and give £1,000 to married couples after the birth of each child. (See our policy Pledges. Also see our Consultation Document on the Family Law Reform Bill.)

. The Adoption Law Reform Bill was passed by the Parliament in December 2006. The majority of MSP's, well over 100 out of 129 MSP's in the parliament passed this. This was done despite 90% of those who responded to the Executive's Consultation being opposed to it. As a result, homosexual relationships are now portrayed as equivalent to marriage. Children are to be placed in what are often unstable situations and permanently denied either a Mother or a Father.

The Scottish Parliament views marriage as "just one relationship among many" whereas the vast majority of people view marriage as the foundation of a stable society. (See Consultation Document submitted by CPA Scotland). Christian Peoples Alliance denounces this constant drift towards secularism and the imposition of the so-called Equality Agenda. We will oppose the continued determination of the secular parties to down grade and undermine marriage.

. The Sexual Health Strategy for our young teenagers was also passed overwhelmingly by our Scottish Parliament. This has led to increased rates of teenage pregnancies, abortions for very young teenagers and a steep rise in STI's. Christian Peoples Alliance is committed to the introduction of abstinence-based sex education as well as a full sex education programme offering all the facts.

(See the Consultation document on the Sexual Health Strategy submitted by CPA).