Does a politicians private life matter?

CLAPTON

yes of course a politicians private life matters
it's for voters to decide exactly what matters to them
I find it very odd he isn't named on his child's birth certificate (and yes it does make a legal difference if one is not married to the mother)

Blacklight

FATBALLZ wrote: »

!!!!!!!! I clicked yes instead of no.

How hard can it be lol.

lemonjelly

CLAPTON wrote: »

yes of course a politicians private life matters
it's for voters to decide exactly what matters to them
I find it very odd he isn't named on his child's birth certificate (and yes it does make a legal difference if one is not married to the mother)

You are assuming it is his choice not to be named on the certificate.

At a time of high pressure & emotion, an unmarried father has effectively no rights other than those granted by the mother.
We do not know whether he chose not to be on the birth cert, or whether he was denied the opportunity.

CLAPTON

lemonjelly wrote: »

An unmarried mother automatically has full parental responsibility & accordingly full parental rights. Effectively an unmarried mother can choose whether to take the father along to register the birth, or not.

Since December 1 2003, an unmarried father named on the birth certificate also has these parental rights. Prior to this date, a male named on a birth certificate meant nothing in law.

Perhaps the mother wished to retain sole parental rights & responsibilities? In the advice world, it is certainly something we see, & there is nothing an alleged father can do to force the mother to include him on the birth certificate.

a court can decide and issue a 'declaration of parentage' in which case the birth will automatically be registered with the fathers name added

Radiantsoul

It seems character is increasingly important when it comes to politicans.

In part we elect a manifesto of policies, but often it seems that much is focused on the leader and their character/attitudes and beliefs. Which might be criticised as low brow, but it does provide a guide as to how they will behave in unpredictable situations.

We might suspect that Ed Milliband will be less keen on supporting families than David Cameron on the basis of this information and will perhaps be more sympathetic towards single parent families. This information has value.

lemonjelly

CLAPTON wrote: »

a court can decide and issue a 'declaration of parentage' in which case the birth will automatically be registered with the fathers name added

Yes. But that is a very difficult, very expensive, complicated & confrontational path.

In my experience, most will do their utmost to resolve the situation informally. If they can't, they'll give up.

Some give up before the little un is born if the relationship isn't a great one.

lostinrates

lemonjelly wrote: »

Yes. But that is a very difficult, very expensive, complicated & confrontational path.

In my experience, most will do their utmost to resolve the situation informally. If they can't, they'll give up.

Some give up before the little un is born if the relationship isn't a great one.

MAybe all of this, instead of making him less geared towards families (as suggested in a post above) might suggest he might be aware of a need to re-look at parental (incl fathers's) rights in the face of modern society?

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Could you trust a man who stabs his brother in the back, and didn't make an effort to include himself on his child's birth certificate?

AMD

setmefree2

Andy_L wrote: »

Both really, IMO it only matters if there is hipocrisy and/or deceit involved. eg if he'd said "being named as a father on the birth certificate is essential to family life" then it would matter if he wasn't named, otherwise its irrelevant.

btw are there any legal implications of not being named the father on the birth certificate?

From a Genealogy ( family tree !) point of view it's a nightmare! Does that mean he's not the father? One would assume so.

Errata

Mekon2 is embarrassed that he's not named as the father on this child's birth certificate? Perhaps ashamed would be a more appropriate emotion.
However this situation may be normal for the north London chatterati, and of course it's a wise child that knows its own father.