Children and Adoption Bill [Lords]

I am pleased to be able to conclude the Third Reading debate. [Interruption.] It is gratifying to know that I am the cause of such hilarity on the Government Front Bench—particularly on the part of the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Plaskitt). This is a serious issue. We have had a good debate on Report and at Third Reading. I reiterate the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) that we could have had a great deal of consensus at Third Reading. We could have been united across the House on the fact that we all care about the future of our children and their family lives and prospects, and that we all care about fairness and equality between men and women. We all understand the tragedy that people’s lives do not go as they planned and that they split up and separate, and there is animosity, bitterness and hatred. We could have taken the opportunity to do something about that by sending an important practical signal. I said in Committee that kind words butter no parsnips. I was right because although we have heard a lot of kind words from Ministers, we have not seen solid proposals. I congratulate the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, the hon. Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda), on his appointment and welcome him to the Dispatch Box. We go back some way from our days in the London borough of Ealing. His career has taken off, and although mine is on a slower trajectory, I hope to catch up.