In this issue:
AGM & Conference June 2003
A Date for Your Diaries
Section 28
Legacies
A Sad Loss
Book Review
A Message from the Founder President
Annual General Meeting & Conference
28 June 2003
The Annual General Meeting and Conference at the Royal Air Force Club, Piccadilly, was a day when members faced up to many of the problems that surround us, but it was also a day for optimism. There was a feeling that, although in some ways things are worse than ever for the family, the tide is beginning to turn, as it is now clear to everyone who has eyes to see that the measures adopted by the state over the last forty years or so are failing. One theme running through the day was how, more and more, statistics are supporting our position. Mrs Angela Appleby summed this up with her clarion call: ‘Children have been told lies; we are on the side of the truth.’ Patrick Fagan could confidently state: ‘The facts support us, and human nature is on our side.’ Some 70 members attended and there were apologies from another 44. Happily, Valerie and Denis Riches, unwell last year, though they attended, were in good health and vigour and delighted in the good news that they heard.
The official business of apologies and other matters were efficiently dealt with, and the Chairman, Arthur Cornell, gave his report. He thanked all members for their work and especially the Director and his staff. Our work was needed more than ever in a world that, while talking a great deal about protecting children, often attacked them. He said that norms were disappearing in our society and being replaced by so-called ‘values clari-fication’. The Chairman mentioned the media training course that he had attended with five others. He said that the course gave excellent training for the valuable work on the media but it also enabled us to see that we are perhaps sometimes too defensive. What we stand for has massive support among the people of the country and we should be unafraid in proclaiming our message, sympathetically but also quite confidently.
Dr Trevor Stammers reported on the experience of giving evidence, with the Director, to the House of Commons Health Committee Inquiry into Sexual Health. He gave the committee two cheers and a raspberry. The two cheers were for the open recognition – belatedly and reluctantly – of the crisis in sexual health. The raspberry was because the solutions proposed were the same ones that had failed before. The report said: ‘We see no benefit in preventative approaches based on abstinence.’ Summing up, Trevor Stammers said: ‘Potted plants and comfortable chairs in STI clinics are all right but abstinence is better.’
In his Hon Treasurer’s report, Simon Ling, explaining the accounts and answering questions, said that the Trust was in good shape, though money is always short and he asked all to try to recruit new members. He took some questions and was given a round of applause.
After the minutes of last year’s AGM had been approved, the Director, Robert Whelan, gave his report. First, he paid tribute to members who had died during the year, especially two outstanding ones: Ronald Butt, a trustee, had been a member since the earliest years and, as a journalist on The Times, had always supported the family in his eloquent writing, and Baroness Young, a great leader of the fight for the family in the House of Lords. She had spoken at our AGM in the year 2000.
The Director reported on a very busy year. As Trevor Stammers had already reported, FET gave evidence, printed in the report, to the House of Commons Committee on Sexual Health. The good work of the Challenge Team continued. The threat of a Children’s Commissioner, who would work against parents, was still there. Norman Wells has become an expert on this subject and has placed a well-researched response on the website. Two publications had been very successful. Deconstructing the Dutch Utopia, by Dr Joost van Loon, was ‘classic FET research’. It had stood an accepted but false idea on its head. The Director thanked members for a massive response to the appeal for money to spread this research. Twice as much as was asked for was given enabling the circulation to be the widest ever of such research. The Art of Loving Well was the biggest selling publication from an outside organisation that we had ever handled. Rebecca O’Neill had produced teachers’ notes for this fine American book and there had been 100 requests for inspection copies so far. The Director emphasised that most of our material is positive: it provides models of good practice. The Other Three Rs on the Internet had attracted 1,290 visitors since November.
The disagreeable features of teenage magazines had been discussed in connection with the Sexual Offences Bill, currently going through parliament, which contains a new offence of advising and encouraging sexual activity involving underage children. The agony aunts fear they are likely to be prosecuted under this clause. Margaret Hodge had been appointed to the government’s newly-created position of minister for children. She had been leader of Islington Council at a time when there were appalling cases of child abuse in the authority’s children’s homes. ‘We do not want or need a minister for children’, said the Director. ‘The government wants to become the parent of all the children in the country.’ In what was to be a recurring theme throughout the day, Robert Whelan finished by saying that the tide was turning in that statistics were now showing how bankrupt old government policies have been. Of the work of members over the years, the director said: ‘Over the years, I cannot think of an issue on which we have been wrong’. He paid tribute to his deputy, Norman Wells, and all the hard-working staff.
Two items of formal business were efficiently, properly and speedily enacted. Those third of the trustees who retired by rotation were re-elected: Mr Arthur Cornell, Dr John Guly and Mr Eric Hester. Similarly, the third of the executive committee who retired in their turn were also re-elected: Mrs Ann Allen; Betty, Lady Grantchester; Mrs Anna Lines; and Mrs Gillian White. There were no resolutions.
Local Activities
The reports on local activities then followed and were very important and useful. Those reporting frequently made reference to how they had been assisted by the staff who had supplied help or put them in touch with others.
From Northern Ireland, Mary Russell’s report was read from the chair. In Northern Ireland, the forces hostile to the family had to work in a roundabout way. Education was a constant worry to parents, especially the so-called ‘enriched curriculum’. Government support for daycare was arranged so that no financial assistance was ever given to family members for looking after children. Only stranger-carers can be given money by the government, not, for instance, grandparents. The NSPCC in Northern Ireland was against parents slapping children but recommended children to use the facilities of the Brook clinics. Abortion, contraception and homosexual acts were all promoted by government leaflets.
The Republic of Ireland report was also read. It told of how its booklet, Response, publishes statistics and information to enable people to be aware of what is going on.
Mrs Angela Appleby, of the Parents’ Network, gave a stirring account of the work that her group is doing from Bristol. To counteract the propaganda for the morning-after pill, the Parents’ Network has produced two good booklets, one for children and one for parents, simply giving the real facts about this pill and STIs. Speaking with the support of a crutch, Mrs Appleby gave a resounding finish to her brief report: ‘Children have been told lies; we are on the side of the truth.’
As we have come to expect, from Cornwall, there was a stirring report from Mrs Armorel Carlyon and Miss Ann Whitaker. After much hard work, the Cornwall Community Standards Association had won the concession for parents to be consulted about material used and for abstinence education to be included, though without enthusiasm. The danger of ‘values clarification’ was mentioned, wherein the so-called ‘circle time’ anarchy was preached. In conclusion, however, Miss Whitaker mentioned that ‘Uganda, on the other hand, is going well’.
Mrs Louise Kirk, from Derbyshire, spoke as a parent-governor of a small Church of England primary school. She reported how Channel 4 videos had been sent by the local education authority to schools, for sex education beginning with five-year olds. The attractive presentation of these videos made them all the more insidious. On menstruation, inaccurate information was given. It was all anti-fertility and ‘put a wedge between children and parents’. Mrs Kirk said that parents were unaware of what was happening. She, too, spoke of the dangers of ‘values clarification’ which, in practice, teaches relativism.
Mrs Sue Relf gave an encouraging account of the further development of the work of the Challenge Team which promotes abstinence education. Started in Canada, Challenge teams were increasingly being invited into schools in Britain where in 90 minutes they tell children why sex is best saved for marriage. Mrs Relf was planning to establish a home-grown Challenge Team for the UK – and preferably more than one. Presenters, schools and organisers were needed. Already 30 schools had agreed to presentations. Sue Relf’s aim is to be in a position to offer a presentation to all 5,000 secondary schools in the UK.
Miss Fiona Pinto was speaking for the first time at an AGM but was something of a quiet heroine. Though she is only 23 (not something she mentioned in her speech), she has done courageous work for the pro-life cause. An Oxford graduate, she spent time in a police cell after being arrested for daring to show a picture of what actually happens in an abortion. This was in Wales where she stood as a pro-life candidate. She is to stand trial in September. No one suggested that the picture was inaccurate: it was just too horrible to be shown to the British public, just as the BBC refused to screen a party political broadcast on behalf of the Pro-Life Alliance which showed an abortion. Miss Pinto was incredulous that the Law Lords ruled that the BBC was entitled to censor pictures that presented viewers with the reality of what abortion entails. In a way, of course, the pro-abortionists have conceded the whole case: abortion is so horrific that people cannot be shown the truth. Miss Pinto, though terrified of heights, was to do a sponsored parachute jump. She was given great applause for her bravery and determination, a fine example of how young people are rallying to the truth.
The good local reports provoked some good questions and discussion. Mrs Maeve Eustace was concerned about the dangers of sex education and wondered, therefore, whether the best course was to advocate no sex education at all – that it should all be left to parents. She suggested that it should be an extra-curricular activity for those parents who wanted to opt in with their children. ‘The age of innocence of children should not be disturbed.’
Dr John Guly said how good news from the USA showed that where expectant mothers were being shown an ultra-scan picture of their babies, they were less likely to opt for an abortion. Dr Guly said that every doctor should recognise an unborn child as a patient.
Dr Haque from Cleveland said that he had been a member for some years and admired the work done but felt that little progress had been made, and the corruption of the young still went on apace. He made a strong plea for members at all levels to work with Muslim organisations who shared our ideals, as well as Jewish and Hindu organisations.
Mrs Kathleen Cassidy said that after last year’s plea for some volunteers to work in the London office, she had become involved. She had done useful work which she had enjoyed, but more volunteers were needed who could give some time to working in the offices near Waterloo. Any member who can offer some time should contact the Director.
Afternoon Session
The Family Life Award for 2003 went jointly to Angela and Martin Appleby for their work with Parents’ Network. The chairman reported on their indefatigable work to help children and to uphold the rights of parents. The award was handed over by last year’s winner, Mrs Eileen Wojciechowska. In accepting the award, Angela Appleby spoke of the people who worked for the Parents’ Network and for Family Education Trust as ‘awesome’. In a fighting speech she said: ‘We can win’.
The afternoon’s speakers complemented each other and all brought good cheer. The standard, as we have come to expect, was of the very highest. First, Mr Patrick Fagan of the Heritage Foundation, Washington DC spoke of his wide American experience. There is, he said, much about which we should be hopeful. Society is beginning to recognise the reality of family breakdown. But, he added, ‘the facts support us… and human nature is on our side’. We must cultivate the good and build on the sense of wanting to belong which is so strong and present in all of us.
In the USA, abstinence education is growing immensely and its success is reflected in the statistics. For homosexuals, the biggest cause of men getting out of the homosexual life style is true friendship – non-sexual – with another man. In Washington, there is now unanimity among the think-tanks on the need to strengthen marriage. He said that speaking at the RAF Club inspired him say that we are taking part in a new Battle of Britain. Conservatives, he said, wanted a strong family whereas the Left wanted a strong state. Patrick Fagan showed how Julian Simon, author of The Ultimate Resource, had been ridiculed or ignored but, gradually, people began to recognise the truth. Social science well done cannot but illustrate the natural law. He exhorted us never to give up. Figures on church attendance correlated with good outcomes. On education, we had to make people realise the truth that anything which states that early sexual relations will not harm health is against the public interest.
We then had a joint presentation by Dr David Paton of Nottingham University Business School and Dr Joost van Loon, a sociologist at Nottingham Trent University. Both are well know to us at FET, Dr Paton for his brilliant paper published in 2002, ‘The Economics of Family Planning and Underage Conceptions’, and Dr van Loon, for his research commissioned by FET, Deconstructing the Dutch Utopia. David Paton started by saying that stating the obvious was important for economists. He gave the audience brief and simple lessons in economics and said that government spokesmen were now reduced to simply contradicting obvious facts. He gave details of his own work, some of it currently awaiting publication, in correlating the provision of contraception, including the morning-after pill, with teenage sexual activity and pregnancy.
Dr van Loon stated that statistics are on our side, but one had to search government publications to find the relevant ones, since the government did not like to release them. The government frequently states things not supported by the data. Dr van Loon identified three factors of the sexual revolution:
1. Changes in technoscience, e.g. medical and technological innovation, such as the pill;
2. Sexual commodification – teenage culture, advertising, pornography;
3. The growth of the state since the 1960s, which erodes organic solidarity; as the state expands, so individualisation increases and the family weakens.
Dr van Loon said that he was not at all against the statistics but against the systematic misinterpretation of statistics that had happened in Britain. He then gave some examples of the misrepresentation of the Dutch experience, as he had demonstrated in his report.
It is difficult to convey in a brief summary the confidence and vigour of Messrs Paton and van Loon, both young and brilliant academics who engaged well with the audience. They were given a fine reception: they had raised everyone’s spirits by their demonstration that those who wished to attack the family had to lie about or ignore the reality of the statistics.
I myself had the easiest task in proposing the vote of thanks, first to our outstanding three speakers of the afternoon, for their most stimulating talks. I also thanked again all those who participated not forgetting our chairman for the afternoon, Peter Dawson. We went away with our resolve stiffened and with a feeling that the tide had started to turn.
Eric Hester, Vice Chairman
Section 28
The safeguards provided by Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 look set to be removed as the current Local Government Bill makes its way through Parliament. Section 28 requires that:
A local authority shall not-
(a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality;
(b) promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.
For the past 15 years the clause has restrained local authorities from engaging in some of the more vigorous campaigns to promote positive images of homosexuality that were a feature of the mid-80s. However, in March MPs voted to repeal Section 28 by a majority of 291. At the Second Reading of the Bill in the House of Lords on 10 July, Baroness Blatch moved an amendment designed to give parents greater control over the content of sex education in schools, but was defeated by 180 votes to 130.
As things stand, there are grounds to fear that in the absence of additional measures to protect children, the removal of Section 28 will serve as a green light for the use of public funds to promote homosexuality and sexually explicit material which would cause widespread offence. The Bill is due to receive its Third Reading in September when further amendments may be moved.
A Date for Your Diaries
Next year’s Annual General Meeting and Conference will take place on Saturday 12 June.
Legacies
Several members have recently requested details of how to make a bequest to the Trust. We have advised enquirers to consult their solicitor in the first instance and complete the necessary codicil form to be lodged with their will.
The codicil will need to state the full name, address and charity registration number of the Trust and the form of words will be to the effect of:
‘I give (amount) to Family Education Trust, Charity No. 1070500, of The Mezzanine, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London SE1 7NQ, for its general charitable purposes and I declare that the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or other proper officer of Family Education Trust for the time being shall be a full and sufficient discharge for my executors.’
It should be borne in mind that there are different types of legacies. A pecuniary legacy is a specified sum of money, the value of which does not increase with inflation. Alternatively, a residuary legacy is the gift of a percentage of what is left of the estate after any debts have been settled and any legacies to other people have been paid.
We are most grateful to all our supporters who have registered their intention to continue their support for the Trust’s work in this way and we would encourage others to consider doing so.
Stop press!
‘Schools will be banned from giving girls the morning-after pill, in defiance of advice from an expert group appointed to tackle Scotland’s appalling level rate of teenage pregnancies… health minister Malcolm Chisholm has disclosed that the controversial proposals to give pupils emergency contraception without their parents’ knowledge will be blocked following a public backlash. He said: “We have to take account of people’s views.”‘
Scotland on Sunday, 13 July 2003
A Sad Loss
We were sad to learn of the death of Lord Shawcross, at the age of 101, on 14 July. He enjoyed a distinguished career in public life, which saw him achieve eminence as the chief prosecutor for the United Kingdom at the Nuremberg war crimes trial and, as Attorney General, lead for the prosecution at the trials of William Joyce (‘Lord Haw-Haw’) and John Haigh. He was an early and longstanding supporter of the aims of our society, and was a sponsor from the 1970s until 1998, when he felt that age and ill-health required him to retire.
Choosing to be Different: Women, Work and the Family
by Jill Kirby
published by The Centre for Policy Studies,
ISBN 1 903219 55 8, 48pp, available from HQ for £5.00 plus £1.00 p&p.
Those members of Family Education Trust who attended the Annual General Meeting in 2002 will remember the brilliant talks by Dr Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics and Jill Kirby of the Centre for Policy Studies on the subjects of women and work, and marriage. This most useful and well-written pamphlet is like a combination of the two talks since Jill Kirby, a lawyer by trade, has written the pamphlet based upon Dr Hakim’s research, about which she had written in Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century (also available from HQ for £15.00 plus £3.00 p&p) and Models of the Family in Modern Societies.
The conclusions are very interesting and reveal, with solid statistical backing, what many of us will have believed. The government bases many of its policies on the assumption that women have the same life-goals as men. The actual evidence is clear: men and women are not interchangeable. Men remain much more likely than women to be work-centred and committed to bread-winning. It is unfair and damaging to the long-term interests of women to assume that the majority are work-centred and financially self-sufficient. The vast majority of women regard themselves as secondary earners once they have family responsibilities.
The evidence also shows that modern women may be classified into three different groups: adaptive, home-centred, and work-centred. The Government’s policies, however, are directed primarily at work-centred women. They have limited relevance to adaptive women and none at all for home-centred women. The current tax, welfare and childcare systems all discriminate against this latter group. It is time for a more even-handed approach. Unfortunately, discussion is stifled. Fear of appearing ‘sexist’ means that policy-makers, commentators and employers are unable to mention the differing priorities of men and women. Family life and the care of children are the casualties.
Long hours in institutional daycare can be harmful for young children but this is the form of daycare that the government is promoting. The evidence in this pamphlet shows that, in their personal lives, modern women are demonstrating the importance they attach to home and family. Government policies have potentially serious consequences for women and their families. Such policies should be based on real life, not social engineering.
Eric Hester
A Message from the Founder President
I am always touched by the generosity which our members show whenever we appeal for funds, but I felt overwhelmed by the response to my letter of June, asking you to support our current project The Art of Loving Well, an excellent collection of extracts from literature which aims to build character in young people. In terms of donations received and of books ordered by members, either for their own use or for presentation to schools in their area, it represented your most enthusiastic response ever. Hundreds of copies of this splendid book have already gone out, with over one hundred schools requesting inspection copies. Two schools have been presented with complimentary sets of thirty copies by generous members, while other schools have ordered sets for themselves. Our critics sometimes accuse us of always being against things, without making any positive contribution of our own, but we have always dedicated the bulk of our resources to producing and distributing material which will help young people to grow up to be healthy and secure. The promotion of The Art of Loving Well, which will occupy us for some time to come, is the latest in a long line of such products. With your help, it won’t be the last!
Valerie Riches
Copies of The Art of Loving Well are available from HQ for £14.50 inc. pp. The teacher’s notes can be purchased for £6.00 or downloaded free from our website familyeducationtrust.org.uk