Hodge says nanny state is here to stay

Children's Minister Margaret Hodge defended the "unsung virtues" of the nanny state today as she unveiled a new plan to tell parents how to bring up their children.

Her department today published a booklet, to be given to all new parents, that includes advice ranging from how to read a book with a child to a warning not to let them watch too much TV.

After months of criticism, Mrs Hodge made clear that the Government is tired of the barrage of attacks over its moves to restrict the right to smack children, smoke in public and eat fatty foods.

In a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research, Mrs Hodge insisted that the state can help improve the lot of families, particularly those on low incomes. The minister lambasted those who believe Labour has no right to tell people how to live. Many on the Right are happy to see the state make rules - as long as they benefit them, she said.

Mrs Hodge declared: "I want to celebrate the unsung virtues of state intervention on behalf of families, and I want to expose the contradictions in the position of the Right. There's an element of ' nimbyism' in our attitude to the nanny state. It's all right to put speed bumps outside our front doors to slow down traffic and enhance our property values.

"But we resent the nannystate speed camera catching us as we are late for work and breaking the speed limit.

"The Right, who relish attacks on the nanny state, are very ready to impose their moral values. It is the Right who are constantly telling people how to live their lives."

Conservatives love to blame the Government for interfering but then turn round to attack Labour when it tries to raise people out of poverty, Mrs Hodge declared.

Mrs Hodge admitted there was tension between state intervention and individual freedom. She sees the Government as running an "enabling state" that gives parents from all social backgrounds access to advice and support.

And she insisted the Government was right to press ahead with its controversial plans to ban smoking in pubs.

She said that, like drink-driving, eventually the majority will come to a consensus that smoking in public places is socially unacceptable.