Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, reference has been made to Scotland. As I am half-Scottish, from time to time I have an internal battle between the Scottish half of myself and the English half of myself. Not simply on this issue, alas, but on other social issues as well, I find the Scots half of me gaining ground. It looks to the English part of me to do something about that to maintain the balance. I hope that my noble friend will listen very carefully to the arguments. I support these amendments; indeed, I support the amendment to the amendment. They seem very helpful. On this issue, it is important to recognise consistency and commitment in all parts of the House. I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, who has been a constant reminder to the House of our obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. For my full timespan, I was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. In that committee, we were deeply concerned about the seriousness with which we followed through and recognised the responsibilities that our signature to that convention implied. It really is quite cavalier and dangerous to sign conventions if it is just a gesture with no follow-through or muscular commitment to delivering on them. We are dealing very much with the need for such muscular commitment. The noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, is in some ways quite courageous, because it is not altogether fashionable to speak out about the responsibilities of parenthood, and I am glad that he does. I am not sure whether his and my views would coincide on forms of parenthood, because I am heartened that we as an imaginative society are recognising more broadly the kinds of parenthood that there can be and that newer forms of parenthood are in many ways providing just the kind of commitment and care that more traditional forms of parenthood have not always provided. I think that anyone who looks at the situation objectively will recognise that, but that does not mean that the newer forms of parenthood do not also need support and encouragement: of course they do. I hesitate to take issue in any way with the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, because I have unlimited respect for her experience and commitment. However, I ask her gently to reconsider some words that she used. She said that she thought it should be our response to ensure that parents are told what their responsibilities were. Frankly, that is a rather disastrous road to take. We should encourage parents and potential parents to understand what their responsibilities are. This is about education, not hectoring. We need to do a lot more in our schools in this respect, but I am absolutely convinced that, if we are to fulfil our responsibilities, these amendments are highly relevant. I cannot say how fervently I hope that, if my noble friend cannot accept them—of course I hope that he may be prepared to—he can positively and not defensively spell out the full-hearted arrangements that make them unnecessary.