MP united with his Sixties love child

By his own admission, Stephen Pound was "pretty wild" when as an 18-year-old Ordinary Seaman he met a girl called Sue during the "summer of love" in 1967 .

By his own admission, Stephen Pound was "pretty wild" when as an 18-year-old Ordinary Seaman he met a girl called Sue during the "summer of love" in 1967 .

Some 36 years later and now Labour MP for Ealing North, Mr Pound found out just how exuberant he had been in his youth when he received a letter from the daughter he never knew about. The MP was united with Lucy when she tracked him down using his school nickname of "Precious" after initially being told by her biological mother that her father was "a nutter who died at sea in the Seventies".

Mr Pound said his relationship with Sue had been sufficiently serious for him to have her name tattooed on his arm. But the affair ended before Sue discovered she was pregnant. When Lucy was born, Sue offered her for adoption and did not contact Mr Pound to tell him he was a father.

Mr Pound said: "Knowing what I was like in the 1960s, I don't blame Lucy's mother for not getting in touch. I would have made a terrible father. I couldn't even spell 'responsible' let alone be it."

Lucy, who is married and has three children, is a Labour supporter and, like Mr Pound, a fan of Fulham football club.

The MP said that his wife, Maggie, and their two children had welcomed Lucy with open arms. "We have 36 years of getting to know each other to catch up on," he said. "But in so far as I can, I'm committed to making up for that."