MP calls for soaps like EastEnders to alter family breakdown plotlines

Siobhan Baillie, a Conservative MP for Stroud, has said she has become concerned about how arrangements for children are being shown as a "battle to be won" when relationships break down.

A former family law solicitor herself, Ms Baillie said that shows needed to move on from adversarial language to help educate people.

She highlights a plot in EastEnders, where Phil Mitchell had a so-called “custody battle” over his son Raymond, and another in Coronation Street involving Fiz Stape and Tyrone Dobbs.

Family breakdown plots, like with Phil Mitchell having a so-called 'custody battle' for his son Raymond were seen as potentially damaging by Ms Baillie

What did Ms Baillie say about this in Parliament?

Speaking in Parliament, she said: “Who does not love a good on-screen relationship drama? Lovers falling out, marriages breaking down and dramatic affairs of the heart are the stock-in-trade of film, soaps and the media.

“But when children are caught in the middle of storylines, we routinely hear ‘I’ll see you in court’, ‘I’m going for custody of little Johnny and little Sarah’, or the possessive ‘She’s my daughter’, and divorce is described as a battle to be won.

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“I am often found shouting at the telly when they get the terminology wrong.

“I am going to write to the producers. Language really matters in family law.”

Ms Baillie has written to the producers of Coronation Street and EastEnders about this.

She said that about 280,000 children see their parents separate each year with about 40% of all separating parents taking issues about their children to the family court.

To reduce some of the problems with this she advocates for mediation and alternative resolution options to help out families.