His pledge to provide free nursery or childcare places for
all 600,000 two-year-olds in Britain looks like a vote-winner. Heaven knows, he needs a few of those. But, come on. It would cost more than £1bn and it could take more than 10 years to implement, money and time that surely could be put to better use elsewhere in the schools system.

And, to be honest, if provision is based on the current arrangements for three and four-year-olds, who receive 12 and a half hours of free childcare a week, it won't help many parents of small children to achieve the Government's objective of getting themselves back into work.

If Gordon Brown really thinks that this is a goer, then he can't have spoken to many of the people whose lives it would affect. Most would have told him that by the time they have got their child into the classroom, it is time to turn around and fetch them home again. We're only talking about two-and-a-half hours' a day. What kind of worthwhile job can be fitted into that kind of schedule?

I get up at 6am and work until midnight sometimes to cram in all that I do around the needs of my two children. Both have attended nurseries
for several weekly sessions as well as being looked after by me, their father or their grandparents.

I am lucky, because my job is flexible and home-based. Not all parents have that privilege. And not all parents want to work outside the home, at least until their children are older. Nor should they be forced to.

I despair of the invidious attempts of New Labour – and this proposed extension of free nursery care is the latest ruse – to coerce parents into the workplace by bribing them with incentives. And in an impending recession, it seems positively foolhardy to flood the labour market with yet more people looking for a job.

It is entirely a parent's right to choose to stay at home looking after their children instead of going out to work, until they – and their little ones – feel ready for the next stage. Some children happily go off to play with others at two, some are terrified out of their wits and cling to mummy's legs.

Apparently, the official thinking is that two-year olds should be inculcated into a school environment as soon as possible, so they are better prepared to learn at an earlier age. Although "free nurseries for two-year olds" has yet to be formally announced, it would form part
of the new Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, which sets out targets for children from birth to five.

This has already been criticised for being too ambitious. Five-year-olds are expected to write sentences, and use simple punctuation. Experts say that this is unfair, and beyond the reach of the majority of the age-group. Is it too much to ask to leave two year-olds in peace to enjoy what's left of their precious toddler-hood playing in the garden?

Are you beginning to wonder just who this idea of extending free nurseries would benefit? It is not all the children, that's for sure. Nor their parents, under pressure to shove their offspring out the door while still in nappies. And it's not the nurseries either, who are complaining that this is a hare-brained scheme which will exacerbate existing problems of under-funding still further.

The National Day Nurseries Association says an additional requirement to take in two-year-olds could force many nurseries to close, given how existing "free" care schemes for three and four-year-olds are not efficiently funded.

Nurseries already struggle to subsidise the loss they make on providing sessions for three and four-year-olds. Because funding is not ring-fenced, there are big disparities in how much different authorities allocate to nursery care.

Furthermore, the credit crunch is already impacting on nurseries: anecdotal evidence suggests empty places are growing as parents cut back on family budgets, or fall victim to unemployment. Many are wondering whether they will survive.

So in the end, the very people whom the Prime Minister purports to help could be the ones who suffer, as there won't be enough nurseries to go around for the parents and children who do want them.

Oh dear. It's definitely the dunce's cap for Gordon on this one.