I start by reiterating my concern that five years after the start of the consultation we do not have the Government’s research. Being able to debate with the facts—how many contact orders involved only a birthday card, and why—would have been very helpful. I really would like those facts, but in their absence, and as a non-lawyer, I will proceed. As an economist I am interested in prevention, in investing money and in saving the enormous costs that distress places on the state and on families. The hon. Member for Stafford referred to post-separation   parenting, which should be part of family support and relationship education at an early age in order to change the culture.

As I said, I am not a lawyer, and I want to pick up on the word “reasonable”. I cannot believe that a court knowingly makes an unreasonable decision. That seems logical to me, so if we are saying, “But the court always makes reasonable decisions”, we are unfortunately in the realms of value judgments, with people coming at the matter from different perspectives. I therefore understand why the Minister keeps saying that there is no point in including the word “reasonable” because it means different things to different people.

I agree with the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) about article 9 of the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, which clearly states that in most circumstances the child should have contact with both parents. I am very committed to that principle and I want it to be stated in the Bill. I do not know how we will get the hang of what is reasonable unless it is there. However, there is a “but”—the interests of the child should be paramount.

I struggled through the Hansard report of the Bill’s proceedings in the other place, where first order and second order presumptions were discussed at great length, and read the evidence given at various stages to the Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs, when much was said about whether there could be first and second order presumptions, and the conclusion seemed to be that there is a real danger that however “presumption” is expressed in certain parts of the Bill, there will be a tendency to weigh up those references up equally. That point was made very clearly on Second Reading by the hon. and learned Member for Redcar (Vera Baird), who, as ever, made a powerful speech, which I found very convincing.

As I have mentioned many times, I was struck by the fact that, in written evidence submitted well before the final report of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Resolution, which was then the Solicitors Family Law Association, stated that there could be a first order and second order presumption. However, subsequent oral evidence given by a member of the association changed that view. That is highly significant. As a non-lawyer who does not want risks to be taken with children, all I can do is rely on the evidence, which seems compelling. I want some provision in the Bill, but I want it to be framed in such a way that there is no risk to the child, which means putting something in the welfare checklist. That is the answer.

There are clearly first order and second order presumptions; it is rather like yesterday’s debate on the admissions code in the Education and Inspections Bill. The Government began by proposing that there be “regard to” the admissions code, and that was stiffened to “in accord”. We need “regard to” in this Bill, and if the best place to put that phrase is in the welfare checklist, I would wholeheartedly support it.

I am sure that the amendment was selected carefully so that we can all have another go at the issue later. As I would like to speak on new clauses that I tabled in an attempt to make some amendments to the welfare checklist, I shall not go into too much detail now.

The amendments are family-oriented. I know that the shape of the family will change over time. To that end, I am committed to putting in as much support as possible for people throughout their lifetime. It comes back to changing the culture and understanding what is reasonable, rather than risking the safety of the child. Somehow we must change the culture.

I support the idea of amending the checklist. There is a problem with the wording, and I do not think that we will necessarily get it right now. I shall listen carefully to the Minister. We cannot risk having two presumptions, which most of the amendments seem to have. The risk is just too high.