Nice sentiments but the impression C&O give is that not a single one of these is remotely likely within a 2-3 year horizon.

As an ‘undecided’ I’m afraid I won’t be voting Conservative unless I see some of these commited to.

The only solution to the marriage crisis is to start treating marriage as a very serious act. Just as it was in the olden days, it meant for life. Today it doesn't, so how do you make it work.

Marriage laws were written long before feminism. Women (generally the weaker partner) seem to have pulled off the trick of keeping the advantages but few disadvantages – they even get tax credits. (ie benefits).

My first act would be to publish / explainthe marriage contract to both couples. This would kill marriage stone dead and we could then get on with a new marriage contract rather than letting it die a long death.

I predict family lawyer will start to push for fairier marriage contracts once they realise there is not enough divorces any more to make a good living. This is not the way forward. Letting lawyers drive changes through case law will result in a system that suits them and not the children in marriages.

You have given one of what could be many.

BUT if someone is getting over £200,000 in benefits, you have surley to ask yourself, are they likely to go to work, and as a consequence get it reduced.

Result from all who have the power to do something, NOTHING HAPPENS, IT IS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE, and it will continue for many years to come, until someone has the commonsense to actually do something to change the system.

As you can see from my various posts today, I am getting very frustrated with the State of our State control and its systems.

I could also mention the cause/effect issue – are married people happier because they are married or are happy people more likely to get married/stay married?

Finally, a transferable MCA is a nice idea (all other countries have it, just about, and let's not forget it was the Tories who scrapped it in the UK) but the real issue is the couple penalty in the benefit system. If mum is on benefits and dad is in work (cohabiting secretly) they stand to lose about £200 a week if they get married and/or admit that they cohabit.

The whole tax and benefit structure needs demolishing and rebuilding, but in the meantime let's start some logical tidying of the current bureaucratic mess.

I can't imagine that being high on anyone's list of priorities. Get a grip !

Divorce costs a lot of money – not only to the families – but the increase in housing needed means more costs all round. Alot of single Mums get working tax credits if they work more than 16 hours a week.

If the Conservatives want to REALLY promote marriage they need to stop bad marriages from happening in the first place. I've seen again and again research predicting the rate of marriage breakdowns. In most cases people fall in love, ignore each others bad points, get married, then after 7 years the marriage becomes stale and it falls apart.

So what would I spend the money on. Well it flys in the face of love and all that but I would get couples who are getting married to face up to (1) what are the bad points about the other person (2) recognise if there are any early symptoms of a failing marriage (3) understand what is needed to keep love fresh in a marriage (4) understand that marriage is a legal contract that will cost a small fortune to get out of. (5) introduce pre-nuptule agreements.

Marriage is declining in a straight line. Men simply do not want to get married because they have seen their fathers screwed over in the courts. Over half of all children are born out of wedlock. If the Conservatives are to turn the marriage situation around they need to address the real problems – and throwing a few quid at a marriage does not help in the slightest bit.