Right right?

Amazing admissions from a Left-leaning British 'think tank', The Institute for Public Policy Research:

Its report is implicitly critical of Labour policy, which has encouraged both parents to go out to work, leaving children "home alone" or in the company of other teenagers who lead them astray.

Patricia Hewitt, a former deputy director of the institute and now the health secretary, admitted recently that the Government had undervalued mothers who remained at home, saying the Labour Party had mistakenly given the perception that it was better if all women got jobs.

Now they're adopting right-wing thinking on the issue, maybe common sense will get some attention at last.

The admissions come as part of the discovery that Britain has among the worst behaved teenagers in Europe:

According to the report, which is to be published in full on Monday and is based on a series of studies conducted in recent years, the UK was at, or close to, the top on a number of indicators of bad behaviour for teenagers. These included drugs, drink, violence and promiscuity.

Fifteen-year-olds were drunk more often, involved in more fights and more likely to have had sex, compared with children in Germany, France and Italy.

One study suggested that in 2003, 38 per cent of 15-year-olds in Britain had tried cannabis, as opposed to just seven per cent in Sweden.

A core finding should signal a warning to parents everywhere:

Whereas 45 per cent of 15-year-old boys in England and 59 per cent in Scotland spent most evenings with friends, in France that figure was just 17 per cent. In Italy 93 per cent of teenagers ate with their families, compared with 64 per cent in the UK.

Mr Pearce said the figures pointed to "increasing disconnection" between children and adults, with youngsters learning how to behave from each other, which damages their "life chances."

Where are your kids tonight?

-- Nick