To The Daily Telegraph
The graveyards of Britain are full of the bodies of men who killed themselves because of the despair brought on by having had their children heisted, with the collusion of our institutionally sexist social services and family courts, which see men, and fathers in particular, as completely expendable, apart from their wallets. Forty per cent* of domestic violence is against men, but we have no refuges, and there is no one to defend us or take us seriously.

Every day the media report in a shocked tone of voice about the many women and children killed in the world’s conflicts. Men are expected to die without mention. It’s no wonder that so many of us choose to leave, and turn out the light. (Louis de Bernières, Denton, Norfolk, UK) (Louis de Bernieres is a best-selling author whose books are must-reads (especially “Birds without Wings”).

If you believe in equality, as all good Epicureans should, the current unfair treatment of fathers is a disgrace, especially in Europe, which prides itself on human rights. No one really knows the inside workings of someone else’s marriage, and so good are we all at convincing ourselves of the “facts” that I doubt whether many married couples do either, or are able to take a dispassionate view of what happened. If they can’t why expect a Court to?

Women do not have salary parity, and they should have. But they should not be able to have the money, the house and the children and leave the husband with nothing. The real truth is usually very complicated indeed. An Epicurean marriage is one of equality and equal effort, and its ending should be, too.

Why is it that those who campaign for social change always seem to overdo it?