I HATE being late. Maybe it has something to do with being a journalist and the fact that the only reasonable excuse for missing a deadline is that you’ve died on the way to the job.

My obsession with being on time has seen me get up two hours before any normal person would, planning my route with the precision of a military operation and sweating profusely if I’m approaching the ETA and I’m still five minutes’ drive away.

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It doesn’t help that my mother is always late. She once offered to drive me to a job interview in Hull and we missed it by four hours. My Spanish husband was dedicated to the manana principle and subsequently our daughter is a devotee of the last-minute put your make-up on in the car movement.

The only family member I can rely on is Lola the loveable Labrador who clunks me on the head at precisely 5pm every day because it’s dinner time.

So, when I hear parents are to be fined £60 if pupils are repeatedly late for school registration, my inclination is to applaud. I know, I know, it’s callous and I’m fully aware that poor families could suffer as a result.

But financial status is irrelevant to this issue. It shouldn’t make any difference if your butler is waking you with eggs benedict and a warmed bathrobe, or you’re aurally assaulted by a common alarm clock. What does matter is that, as parents it’s our duty to make sure our kids arrive on time. It’s good discipline and sets them up for the workplace.

What happens if we’re repeatedly late for work – we’re given a couple of warnings, then it’s the big heave-ho. And rightly so. Getting up and getting the kids ready on time costs nothing other than a bit of organisation and, dare I say it, self sacrifice.

Margaret Morrissey, from the campaign group Parents Outloud, says: “For some families, the money they will be fined will be very important to them and it will be the children who lose out.”

Yes, I get that. So maybe to avoid the kids suffering those parents will heave themselves out of bed at the correct time. If it’s the kids who refuse to go to school, then they should be asking for help from the experts.

There will always be days when buses don’t arrive, a family issue gets in the way, or a hormonal teenager drags his/her feet and those will be taken into consideration. It’s the persistent offenders who will be penalised.

Get up or get fined. It’s a simple choice.