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Welfare Reform Bill

The noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, has to admit that some mothers are embittered by having been abandoned by the father and are prepared to do anything to make life hell for him. The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, was extraordinarily brave to make that politically incorrect statement. It is the sort of thing that I might have wanted to say myself but did not dare to because my situation is a little different. Is it right that this crucial decision should be made irrevocably on day one? I do not understand, and I shall look at the situation again before the next stage of the Bill. Perhaps the Minister will be able to help me. There ought to be the opportunity at any stage in the child’s life for the father to come forward and say, "I really am the dad of this child and I want to take responsibility", and for the courts to say, "This is a good guy now. He may have been hell when he was 18, but now he is a good honest fellow and he certainly should be accepted as the father". Is it true that this decision is irrevocable?