From time to time an idea comes along that captures the mood of the moment. Eight years ago a new organisation, Fathers Direct, did just that. Its main aim was to provide information on fatherhood through training and advice, but its very existence reflected the growing belief that fathers should play as vital a role in the raising of children as mothers do. Indeed, much of Fathers Direct's focus has been on helping those who provide services for families to meet the Government's demand that they include fathers in their work.

This is not just due to an innate sense that children require the love and care of fathers. It is based on solid research: that the more a father is involved emotionally with his children, the greater they benefit in terms of their development, their school performance, their self-esteem and their well-being. The evidence for this is apparent in playgrounds throughout the country. Teachers often find that children, particularly boys, whose fathers play no active part in their upbringing can fall behind academically and be highly disruptive.

Yet a government that has acknowledged the vital responsibilities of fathers is now seeking to introduce legislation that undermines the place of men in children's lives. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill which was debated in the House of Lords this week would remove the requirement for doctors to take into account the need of the child for a father when they agree to provide fertility treatment. The bill would also allow lesbian couples to be regarded as joint legal parents of children who have been conceived with donated sperm or eggs.

Gay-rights campaigners have said that changing the law will remove discrimination against same-sex couples. But as Baroness Williams of Crosby pointed out during the Lords debate, a reform of this kind has far greater consequences. In this case, as she argued, it could well change the general attitude towards fatherhood.

Modern family life is often ...

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Members of the Islamic extremist gang that blew up trains in Madrid three years ago, killing 190 people, have been convicted and sentenced, and it has acted as a moment of healing for Spanish society, long used to living with bitter memories. Another possible moment of healing is at hand, different but strangely related - the revisiting of the murderous Spanish Civil War of the 1930s in order to lay to rest the era's ...