Judge warns over family breakdowns

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Mr Justice Coleridge, a Family Division judge, said the consequences of family break-up for the wider society are now so great it can no longer be treated as a purely private matter.

Action is needed, he said, to achieve a "fundamental change" in individual attitudes and behaviour to re-establish marriage as the "gold standard" for relationships.

The problems are so great that no one political party on its own could resolve them and only a national commission drawn from a wide constituency would have any any chance of success, he said.

Judge Coleridge sparked controversy last year when he said family relationships in Britain were in "meltdown", likening the problem to a "cancer".

In his speech to the Family Holiday Association at Westminster, he blamed unrealistic expectations about relationships for the extent of the disputes and breakdowns which "overwhelmed" the family courts.

"What, I hope in all humility, I am drawing attention to is the endless game of 'musical relationships', or 'pass the partner', in which such a significant portion of the population is engaged, in the endless and futile quest for a perfect relationship which will be attained, it is supposed, by landing on the right chair or unwrapping a new and more exciting parcel," he said.

With many children growing up "scarred" by the effects of their parents' break-ups, he said that it could no longer be seen as just a matter for the individuals involved.

"The fundamental change in individual attitude and behaviour that is required is in our assumption that the way in which we conduct our private lives in relation to both the production and parenting of children, or the break-up of a parental relationship, is a private matter which only affects the individuals directly concerned," he 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 of all types and ages."