As Holyrood seeks to introduce minimum alcohol pricing, Labour should not simply dismiss the idea. Its benefits, especially for certain parts of the country affected by alcohol misuse, could be as far-reaching as the smoking ban.

As the government pushes back against criticism from the IFS, the Fawcett Society and beyond, Labour is united and ready to spring to fight for its progressive legacy of not just the last 13 years but throughout its history

Kate Green looks at IDS's consultation document on welfare and finds many worrying gaps. At first sight, there's not much to complain about in '21st Century Welfare' - insofar as it goes. What's there seems mostly unexceptionable - the worry is with what is not.

Ken Clarke is reportedly at odds with Cameron on penal policy. But before Labour crows at yet another coalition split (and all within the Tories this time) let's be careful to consider the evidence on crime and justice.

New members are full of enthusiasm and Labour is already back campaigning, whether on the street or in opposition in parliament. Let's make sure we give members new and old the chance for proper debate within the party.

Past Tory warm words on public health measures are turning out to be just that. But Labour can resist harmful cuts and support public health through a positive campaign on fast foods, health in pregnancy and sports

This week parliament will debate the government's intention to extend anonymity to defendants accused of rape. This unheralded policy has been challenged by Labour MPs but the fight must be kept up

Kate Green finds little fairness in the coalition's first budget.

A toxic mix of academisation and free schools, savage cuts and selection are likely to divert resources away from those who need it most, resulting in a two-tier education system

The language of the new government points to less social justice and a profound dismantling of the welfare state as we know it

Today's decision is a blow that families may understand only in years' time, and is an attack on the social mobility the governing parties claim to support

Research from the Daycare Trust showing that mothers' voting choices will be affected by policies on childcare will come as no surprise to campaigners - or to politicians. Talk to women and it's a constant anxiety.

This was a budget for grown-ups. Sober, sensible, progressive - exactly what ordinary families wanted to see.

Today's Social Market Foundation report on short-term prisoner care raises as many questions as it seeks to answer

‘Green shoots' of debate on the welfare state are pleasing but the 2020 Public Services Trust's new report places too much faith in localism

New report shows inconsistent use of otherwise good early intervention policies. As belts tighten these must be made truly holistic.

Today's new report from the Sutton Trust showing that children from the poorest backgrounds are nearly a year behind better off children in terms of verbal scores at age five reveals a complex picture. It's not simply that parenting behaviour accounts for all of the difference, though commentators seized on that. The research shows that parental activity and behaviours, including reading to children at home and offering a stable home routine are important - and so are access to a car and the internet. Meanwhile, measurement of other non-verbal scores showed parental income having more significance.

The increasing attention from Labour ministers to inequality as the root of a wider range of socioeconomic evils is very much to be welcomed. Now, hot on the heels of the Hills report comes the Marmot review, reinforcing the message about the damage inequality does.

Every child death is a tragedy. And when a child dies violently, public outrage rightly follows: how can we have failed to protect the most vulnerable?

But new findings from researchers at the university of Bournemouth, showing that the number of violent deaths among children in England and Wales has fallen by almost 40 per cent since 1974, is something to welcome, even as we strive to learn from the cases that go horribly wrong. Today, the death rate is the fourth lowest in the western world, the result, the researchers say, of improvements in social care systems and a greater focus on child poverty.

The report from John Hills's National Equality Panel contained little to surprise campaigners, but made depressing reading nonetheless, revealing that levels of income inequality are higher today than 40 years ago.

The latest figures from Save the Children showing an increase in the number of the very poorest children will cause ministers concern. The charity itself acknowledges that budget measures since 2008 should have begun to turn the position round. But some children are especially at risk.

The Tories' costly proposal to offer a tax allowance for married couples has so much about it that's just plain daft. There's no evidence that tax breaks encourage the reluctant to the altar - yet the party that takes macho pride in how hard and fast it will cut the deficit is ready to waste money on a policy that doesn't work.