Howard backs rights for fathers

Tory leader Michael Howard is today expected to add to calls for the Government to introduce shared parenting rights as new legislation is drafted to tackle "an absolute gender bias" in custody cases.

It is thought ministers are considering law changes to offer divorced fathers a better deal on custody and access rights and are contemplating equal custody, the norm in some countries. Reports also claim mothers who flout court orders on giving ex-husbands access to their children would have to do community service.

One senior government source, quoted in The Observer, said fathers had a "very strong and I think very justified sense of grievance" about family courts. Mr Howard, staging a summit to address the issue, is expected to tell delegates "the best parent is both parents", even after divorce.