Family values

THE unedifying spat between Labour and the Conservatives over family policy shows, once again, that a "one size fits all approach" is not always the best solution to Britain's social challenges.

In criticising Tory tax plans to reward marriage, the Children's Secretary Ed Balls had to concede that a traditional family setting – he is married to fellow Cabinet member and Yorkshire MP Yvette Cooper – was the best environment in which to raise their young children.

Equally, the inflexibility of the Conservative proposals, if

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implemented, threaten to penalise those unmarried couples who are, nevertheless, model parents at all times. Tinkering with tax is unlikely to be a panacea, even more so if the plans are unaffordable in a recession. Equally fatuous is the Government's new guide on how to be a good father.

It simply epitomises the immature infantile nature of the political debate in this country and undermines the endeavours of the

overwhelming majority of parents who are law-abiding and responsible citizens.

What needs tackling are the circumstances behind those children who terrorise housing estates across Britain – such as the brothers who tortured two youngsters to within an inch of their lives in Edlington, South Yorkshire, last year.