Judge blames social anarchy on 'pass the partner' parents

Mr Justice Coleridge accused parents who fail to commit to each other of causing "social anarchy" with their games of "pass the partner", which left children scarred for life.

The Family Division judge called on a national commission to be created to promote marriage as the "gold standard".

One in three marriages ends in divorce and a quarter of children live with a single parent.

Research shows children from broken homes are more likely to do badly at school, suffer poor health and become involved in crime, drugs, drinking and pregnancy.

In a strongly worded speech in Parliament last night, Sir Paul Coleridge, 60, said: "Although, superficially, these are private issues, they become matters of public concern when they are happening on such a huge scale and affect detrimentally such a significant proportion of the population.

"The reaffirmation of marriage as the gold standard would be a start."

The judge caused controversy in April last year with a hard-hitting speech when he warned of a "cancerous" meltdown of family relationships in Britain.

His latest comments are likely to be warmly welcomed by Conservative leader David Cameron, who has pledged to support marriage through the tax system.

The judge said that, while he favoured some rights for co-habiting couples, marriage was the best solution.

He condemned those who engaged in an "endless and futile quest for a perfect relationship" on the selfish premise they were being true to themselves and their needs.

He said: "The children are caught up in the conflict of their parents' unresolved relationship issues and it can leave them scarred, sometimes severely scarred, for life.

"Marriage is by no means perfect or the only way or only structure for living with a partner, but statistically it has proved to be the most enduring and, statistically, the children of such relationships perform the best."