PUBLIC OPINION ON A CHILD'S NEED FOR A FATHER

That this House welcomes the movement made by the Prime Minister towards the 1990 free vote precedent in relation to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill; further welcomes the recent Comres poll conducted from 26th to 28th March 2008, which demonstrates that 79 per cent. of people think it is important that IVF clinics have regard for a child's need for a father, a requirement the Bill seeks to remove; notes that these results confirm the Government's own consultation, the 2005 Review, which showed that only 103 out of the 505 responses backed removing the obligation to have regard for the child's need for a father; and agrees with Baroness Butler-Sloss, former President of the Family Division of the High Court, who said that the removal of a child's need for a father would send `the wrong signal' to society.