A man came over to the bench and sighed deeply as he sat down next to us. Dad nudged me."He's wearing my anorak." Sure enough, he was wearing the same anorak as Dad, albeit a slightly less battered version. He nudged the man: "Nice anorak," he said. The man looked up and it was Roy Kinnear.

One million children going without an adequate education would be unacceptable and a cause for considerable public anger to be directed towards the Government... But one million fathers are absent from the lives of their children. The presence and influence of a father is of far greater importance than a school teacher.

A new series of remarkable psychology experiments is about to be published which reveals a powerful, yet hitherto unsuspected, influence on girls' sexuality, and it's right at the heart of family life.

Sunday marks another day for Britain's high streets to cash in on consumerism with the purchase of Father's Day DVDs, books and greeting cards. We've...

You see time is the single biggest gift parents can give their children. As a business coach and mentor, I have seen how lack of time from their parents during childhood has caused major issues in the minds and behaviours of some of the most successful CEOs.

Father's Day is the annual celebration of men's fertility. It is not a celebration of "good fathers" but, rather, any man who contributes sperm to create a child. We have arrived at a point in our culture where violent men are considered "good enough" fathers.

At my children's own, otherwise wonderful school, Mothers Day means card-making and an annual gift giving rally, where each child can stow away a beautifully wrapped gift. Come Fathers day, what happens? Nothing. Apparently, the reason for this is that someone at the school decided it was unfair to the children without fathers.

I looked up the word 'feckless' in the dictionary this morning because, according to those helpful people at Netmums, us dads are too often unfairly labelled as such. Think peanut-brained Homer Simpson, any hopeless lead character in a soap opera and, my favourite, the wonderfully bemused and put-upon dad in Outnumbered.

Given that couples who share childcare more equally are actually more likely to have happier relationships and are more likely to stay together. We need a broader manifesto about what it ought to mean to be a dad in 21st Century Britain. This would complement - not contradict - the father's rights movement's aims.

As today is Father's Day, we thought it was a good time to remember what we love about fatherhood. And while it's often a running joke in many househ...

I often wonder who writes such gushing father's day tributes. They might be suitable for your natural father (although I frequently question this), but in my opinion you want something slightly more conservative for a stepfather.

I once bought my dear dad a Father's Day card. He laughed, called me a silly sod, and asked how much money I'd wasted on it. My answer, £4.50, was ap...

So - fathers are to be given the legal right to spend time with their children after separation or divorce under new plans intended to keep both parents "involved". It's important to note however that this new law doesn't mean parents have the right to spend an equal amount of time with their children. Nor does it mean that a child cannot make their main home with just one of the parents.

My father has never left the tiny corner of Mumbai in which he lives. He was born deaf, at a time when being disabled meant you were condemned to a limited formal education. His trip, stressful and unforgettable, helped me see London - and my father - differently. With Father's Day coming up, it helped us look at my dad through clear, unsentimental eyes of grown up adults.