The Christian campaign group CARE (Christian Action Research & Education) is calling on politicians of all parties to pledge themselves to a new social policy in Scotland.

CARE has produced a manifesto for the elections covering areas as diverse as marriage & the family, religious freedom, faith-based social action, health & social services, justice, education, community development and sustainability.

The charity is calling on candidates for this year's Scottish Parliament and local authority elections to sign up to a range of policies including:

•the promotion of marriage by the Scottish Executive and local authorities, funding for parenting courses and a national target to reduce the rate of divorce,
•safeguarding the right of faith communities and individuals to express and practice their religion
•working with faith communities to provide valuable social services
•resisting attempts to introduce euthanasia and physician assisted suicide
•the introduction of a system of informed consent which includes pre-abortion counselling prior to termination of pregnancy
•measures to tackle human trafficking, a form of modern day slavery
•the provision of abstinence-based sex education in schools
•placing a duty on local authorities to assess the level of demand for denominational education for any faith and to respond to this demand where it exists
•significant extra investment in affordable housing, and
•recognition of the environmental cost of family breakdown which leads to pressure on the greenbelt for additional housing.