Are there any qualities that you think a good dad should possess?
Patience, love and a sense of humour. I wish I had more of all three.

Do you have any tips or advice for first time dads?
Don’t always drive – sit in the back. Get off the sofa and onto the floor. Crouch sometimes to talk to children. Don’t expect them always to look up at you.

What do you see as the main pressures faced by modern British fathers?
Lack of time, being torn between a traditional identity as breadwinners and expectations we have of ourselves and from others that we should have a much more hands-on caring role, than our own dads did.

Are there any celebrity fathers that you particularly admire?
I really do admire Pierce Brosnan actually. His own father left when he was young and he did not see much of his mother in his early years. He is an adoptive father as well as being a biological father and stepfather and he survived the death of his first wife before repartnering and having another child. So he has had a complicated experience of fathering, but emerged with a keen sense of commitment. And he is prepared to talk openly about it all, which is unusual for public figures.