A Spanish judge from the province of Murcia is being tried for delaying the adoption of a child by her mother's lesbian lover.

Prominent Labour MP Frank Field has warned that the fallout society faces from family breakdown is just as dramatic as the present financial crisis.

Mr Field, a former Government minister, identified the 1950s as the “peak years for Britain being a peaceful and self-governing kingdom” and blamed bad parenting for increasing levels of violent crime.

In a lecture given last night, he praised the work of Conservative social policy researchers and MPs Iain Duncan Smith and Graham Allen looking at the importance of supporting family life, which he described as “outstanding”.

He said families were the best place for developing “a sense of personal responsibility for one’s actions, a thoughtfulness for others and a growing sense of self-government”.

He warned that the “social crisis we are facing is every bit as dramatic as the economic recession into which we are entering.

“Indeed this recession has been steadily building up over decades in this country.”

Children of separated parents are far more likely to display negative outcomes in areas like educational achievement, mental health and future relationships.

Yet increasing numbers of children are suffering from the breakdown of their families. Almost half of all children are now born to cohabiting parents, and one in four of these will see their parents split up before they reach five.

Earlier this month Mr Duncan Smith said that tragedies like the death of Baby P – a 17-month-old child whose abuse at the hands of his mother and her live-in boyfriend led to his death – highlighted the need for the drastic reform of social policy relating to families.

“This shocking case should lead to yet another full-scale public inquiry,” Mr Duncan Smith said. “Yet all of this deals with the symptoms rather than the cause.

“Dysfunctional family life lies at the heart of the problem. Mr Duncan Smith called on “all political parties to put aside their differences to get to grips with this current crisis in care and to focus their attention on family breakdown”.

The Oireachtas subcommittee set up to examine the issues raised by the defeat of the Lisbon referendum has recommended against asking the EU for opt outs on social and ethical issues. However, members of the committee said that they would favour a “constitutional filter”, to protect Ireland's position on these sensitive issues.

The Catholic Church favours marriage, but “it is not against other forms of intimacy”, according to the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin. His remarks came in response to comments made by Cardinal Brady regarding the Government's proposed Civil Partnership Bill.

California's Supreme Court has agreed to consider the legality of a ballot measure that repealed a law allowing same-sex couples to wed in the state.

A referendum on children's rights will take place next year, Fine Gael’s spokesman on Children's Affairs, Alan Shatter, predicted at the weekend.

Children have an innate belief in God, and do not acquire their faith through religious indoctrination, according to a leading academic. Dr Justin Barrett, a researcher at Oxford University's Centre for Anthropology and the Mind, says that children are predisposed to believe in a supreme being because they assume that everything in the world was created with a purpose.

Dozens of specifically online Christian dating services are set to come under threat after a online dating service for Christians was sued for not providing matches for same-sex couples. The website, eHarmony, has been compelled by a settlement to offer a new service to same sex couples.

Amnesty Ireland’s stance in favour of same-sex marriage is set to create difficulties for its youth groups in Catholic schools, according to a report in the Irish Catholic. The report says that the Bishop's Education Commission will seek “urgent clarification” on the matter after the group passed a motion in favour of supporting same-sex marriage at its annual conference last month.

UK parents have reacted with outrage on learning that leading retailer Bhs is selling sex items alongside children's toys.

Law reforms which will strengthen marriage, such as official backing for marriage preparation classes and reviewing divorce procedures have been proposed in a new report by a leading UK think tank. The report was launched by The Centre for Social Justice, set up by former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

Lone parents in receipt of social welfare may be required to enter the workforce under new Government proposals. The plan would require single parents to engage in work, training or education once their children reach a certain age.

The welfare of the child should be at the centre of fertility treatment, according to a Galway fertility clinic which only treats married couples. The director of FertilityCare Galway, Dr Phil Boyle, made the comments in response to criticisms of their policy as judgemental.

Two student unions in the North East of England have banned the National Blood Service (NBS) from advertising in their buildings because it will not take blood from active homosexuals.

Forty per cent of people in the UK think male same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt children, largely because it is not in the best interests of the child.

The Maastricht Protocol on abortion, which protects Ireland's Constitutional protection for the unborn, needs to be updated to ensure that it is “fit for purpose in the 21st century”, according to an expert on the EU.

A senior Fianna Fáil politician has defended the right of Cardinal Sean Brady to enter the debate about same sex civil unions. Labhrás Ó Murchú (FF) said he did not like the manner in which the Cardinal had been criticised by Trinity Senators David Norris and Ivana Bacik. "My belief is that the church is quite entitled, on behalf of its membership, to express a view." It was wrong to suggest that constraints should be put on the prelate or on any other spokesperson.

Senior bishops and the Minister for Education Mr Batt O'Keeffe TD had what was described as “a cordial and constructive meeting” on Wednesday, according to Bishop Leo O'Reilly, Chair of the Bishops' Education Commission. The meeting took place in Dáil Éireann and addressed the issue of the provision of religious education for Catholic children in State-run multi-denominational national schools.

Opt-outs aimed at protecting Ireland’s laws affecting the family, the right to life and religious freedom from possible EU encroachment will be given serious consideration by the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Europe.

Bans on same-sex civil marriage were carried on Tuesday in three states, California, Florida and Arizona, in a major victory for pro-marriage campaigners.