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Fathers 4 Justice founder to enter Mayoral race
Evening Standard9 Jan 2008
The founder of direct action group Fathers 4 Justice is planning to enter the London Mayoral race.
Matt O'Connor, who orchestrated stunts such as the powder-bombing of Tony Blair in the Commons, has vowed to bring "theatre and drama" to the campaign.
He plans to focus on the breakdown of families, which he believes is behind the huge number of teenage murders in London - 27 last year and two already this year. "One in two black children grows up without a father. One in four children grows up without a father. In London it's a real issue," said Mr O'Connor, 40, a father of three.
"We need to tackle crime and we need to tackle young offending. The role of fathers is absolutely integral to solving this problem."
Fathers 4 Justice was founded to highlight the difficulty many estranged fathers have in gaining legal access to their children but its publicity stunts have caused controversy.
Mr O'Connor almost committed suicide in 2001 when he considered jumping off Waterloo bridge after being barred from seeing his two sons from his first marriage.
He expects to launch his campaign on 14 February and stand for the English Democrats, who campaign for an English parliament because they believe that England loses out to Scotland in terms of public funding.
Reader views (12)
Mr O'Connor needs to spend more time fathering and setting a good example for his own three sons. .
- Penelope, Taunton, UK, 11/01/2008 14:31
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He's only been in the party two minutes. Perhaps his campaign will start from the top of Nelson's column!
- Robert Parkhouse, Solihull, England, 10/01/2008 17:57
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I agree, the role of fathers has been systematically undermined by government policies and social services over many years. There is an obsession with social experiments the results of which are only seen 15-20 years later; traditional judeo-christian values which have created what we cherish in British culture and a moral population, have been deliberately dismantled.
It is almost impossible to bring up boys in particular without a father figure. This government's particularly responsible for this problem, if MPs had to live on inner city council estates they would more carefully consider actions such as the slashing of funding for the marriage concealing service Relate and the disgusting decisions to support adoption rights for homosexuals.
All true statistics show that children grow up and do best in traditional MARRIAGES, yet there is very little support from local and central government for the institution.
Mr O'Connor has my respect.
- Jk Wieliczko, Warsaw Poland, 10/01/2008 16:19
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Only a right Charlie could imagine that the absence of fathers is not a major factor in gang violence amongst youths and young men. The connection between violence amongst young men and father absence is statistically overwhelming, and if it were not inconsistent with Ken Livingstone's long-standing political alliances with feminist separatist women's groups, he would be acknowledging the obvious truth of Matt O'Connor's message. Our male children, both black and white, deserve better social outcomes.
- Peter, London, UK, 10/01/2008 15:43
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Why should Londoners trust a loser who can't even maintain good relations with his ex?
- Mothers For Justice, London, 10/01/2008 13:46
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Its for sure he conned and exploited his distraught members into believing he was their saviour and in so doing fed both his pocket and egotistical nature, But will the good people of London fall for his next scam I rather hope not.
- Richard, Brighton UK, 10/01/2008 12:06
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As London Area Chairman of the English Democrats, I confirm that Garry Bushell is still the party's mayoral candidate and that if I have anything to do with it, Matt O'Connor will not be. I hope this has cleared up the matter.
- Andrew Constantine, Chairman London Area, English Democrats, London, England, 09/01/2008 22:25
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It is indeed refreshing to hear of the English Democrats. I have visited their site and they appear to be an established political party. It seems that we have at last got someone to support the English cause rather than the usual anti-English racism that seems to have been prevalent for the last ten years. Good luck to Matt and the English Democrats. I shall look closer at them.
- Fred Forsythe (Not The), London, 09/01/2008 22:25
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As London Area Chairman of the English Democrats, I confirm that Garry Bushell is still the party's mayoral candidate and that if I have anything to do with it, Matt O'Connor will not be. I hope this has cleared up the matter.
- Andrew Constantine, Chairman London Area, English Democrats, London, England, 09/01/2008 22:25
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It is very refreshing and encouraging to hear of the English Democrats. I now understand that they are an established political Party. Party. It seems at last we have someone to champion the Pro-English cause rather than the usual anti-English racism that seems so prevalent. Good luck to both Matt and the English Democrats. I shall certainly look at their site with a view to supporting their platform.
- Fred Forsythe (Not The), Worcester, 09/01/2008 22:20
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At last, somebody who is prepared to do something about gang violence and not blame it all on Hollywood as Ken Livingstone did yesterday. This guy looks like he understands the problems and will do something about it.
- Tom Wright, Kensington, 09/01/2008 18:14
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Looks like Boris won't be the only idiot running for mayor after all then.
- Charlie, Soho, 09/01/2008 17:29
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